{"id":299105,"date":"2023-09-24T15:44:51","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T20:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=299105"},"modified":"2023-09-22T20:54:39","modified_gmt":"2023-09-23T01:54:39","slug":"western-australia-decriminalizes-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/western-australia-decriminalizes-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Australia decriminalizes and expands abortion in ‘radical, barbaric’ bill"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lawmakers in Western Australia have passed drastic reform laws removing abortion from the criminal code and making it more accessible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Abortion Legislation Reform Bill 2023 <\/span>eliminates<\/a> a requirement that women undergo mandatory counseling prior to receiving an abortion and it also removes the stipulation that a woman get a doctor’s referral prior to an abortion. The new law<\/a> also has troubling implications for those who may have conscientious objections to abortion \u2014 though doctors may object to committing the procedure, they will instead be required to refer women to another provider or offer women information on where an abortion can be obtained. <\/span><\/p>\n

According to the Australian Christian Lobby, lawmakers also voted down an amendment that would have protected children born alive after an abortion attempt<\/em><\/strong>, as well as an amendment that would have prohibited sex-selective abortions.<\/span><\/p>\n

The decriminalization of abortion means that it is no longer a crime, though an unqualified person who commits an abortion can still be penalized. The law does maintain some restrictions on late abortions but moved the threshold at which these restrictions must take effect from 20 weeks to 23 weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n

READ: Abortion survivors are not a \u2018pro-life myth\u2019. Here\u2019s how we know.<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that it\u2019s everyone\u2019s right to be able to access safe, affordable, and legal reproductive services,\u201d the premier, Roger Cook <\/span>said<\/span><\/a> Thursday. \u201cIt is clear that the community and Western Australian women want these reforms.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

“Abortion care has been treated differently for too long when it is legal and safe mainstream healthcare for women,” said<\/a> Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson. “This legislation will significantly improve access to abortion care for regional women. With the passing of this bill today the Cook government has taken a big step forward in addressing this inequality.”<\/p>\n

It is likely that “abortion care” has been “treated differently” than other “health care” because abortion is quite literally the intentional killing of a human being who happens to be in the womb of his or her mother. It is not healing a disease or treating a condition. True health care heals \u2014 it does not deliberately kill.<\/p>\n

The Australian Christian Lobby is calling the bill “the most radical and liberal abortion law in the world,” particularly for its failure to protect born-alive survivors.<\/p>\n