Reproductive Rights
Our vision is that every person has the right to make decisions about their own body. Australian laws and policies must promote the health, dignity and reproductive freedom of women and all pregnant people.
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A huge win for women in NSW
In a huge win for women’s reproductive freedom, abortion is no longer a crime in NSW. New South Wales law now recognises the right of women, and all pregnant people, to make choices about their bodies and futures in consultation with their doctor, free from the fear of prosecution.
Together with the NSW Pro Choice Alliance, led by the Women’s Electoral Lobby, we worked with MPs across the political divide to relegate NSW’s 119-year-old criminal abortion laws to the pages of history. Across critical stages of the reform process, we provided expert legal advice to MPs and key stakeholders on the Bill, proposed amendments and advocated for laws that would respect autonomy and equality. Our work built on our successful advocacy with key partners to decriminalise abortion in Queensland last year.
With 77 per cent of people in NSW supporting a woman’s right to choose, this should have been a simple reform. But we had to overcome the cynical tactics of a handful of politicians determined to hold back women’s rights.
Now, we are setting our sights on reform in South Australia and Western Australia. South Australia’s 50-year-old abortion laws still make it a criminal offence to terminate a pregnancy in certain circumstances. We engaged with the South Australian Law Reform Institute’s review of South Australia’s outdated abortion laws, and welcome the Attorney-General’s recent commitment to introduce a bill to decriminalise abortion in early 2020.
In Western Australia, abortion continues to be regulated as an exception to criminal laws, which is causing hardship for women in distressing circumstances. We will continue to advocate for abortion to be regulated as healthcare, rather than as a criminal matter.
The Human Rights Law Centre is committed to eradicating laws that deny women freedom and control over their bodies. We will continue to fight to remove every last legal barrier to reproductive health care in Australia.
Human Rights Law Centre’s Edwina Macdonald.
High Court affirms the right to safe and private access to abortion
No one should have to run a gauntlet of abuse and harassment just to see their doctor. Safe access zones around abortion clinics ensure the safety, dignity and privacy of women accessing reproductive healthcare.
Four years ago, we played a central role alongside staff at the Melbourne Fertility Control Clinic in establishing safe access zone laws in Victoria. The laws put an end to the abuse and harassment that women and health clinic staff had endured for decades.
So when anti-abortionists trying to wind back the clock on women’s rights challenged these laws in the High Court, we responded. Together with an expert pro bono legal team – DLA Piper and barristers Kate Eastman SC, Frances Gordon and Chris Tran – we successfully intervened in the case to defend safe access zones.
In a historic decision in April, the High Court confirmed that the safe access zone laws in both Victoria and Tasmania are valid. Safe access zone laws are here to stay.
Securing safe access to reproductive healthcare around Australia
The Human Rights Law Centre has helped to achieve safe access zone laws now in all Australian jurisdictions barring South Australia and Western Australia. We are now working closely with grassroots advocates and politicians to secure safe access zone laws in those remaining states.
In South Australia, a private member’s bill was introduced into Parliament in September. We welcomed the development but urged minor amendments to ensure that the laws strike the right balance between a woman’s right to access healthcare and freedom of expression. In 2020, we’ll be fighting to end anti-abortion harassment outside clinics in Western Australia.
The importance of these reforms was underlined by the approval of 40-day permits for anti-abortionists to undertake ‘prayer vigils’ in two locations in WA this year, exposing staff and patients to intimidation and harassment.
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