South Australia’s parliament is set to debate restrictions on late-term abortion for the third time in less than two years. Source: ABC News.
Pro-life campaigners are hopeful the newly elected upper house, comprised of three new One Nation members, will pass the legislation.
Upper house MLC Sarah Game, formerly of One Nation and now an independent, introduced legislation yesterday to place new limits on abortions after 25 weeks.
It comes only six months after her last push to change abortion laws was defeated in the upper house, 11 votes to eight.
South Australian law currently permits abortions after 23 weeks, with the approval of two doctors, if the continuation of the pregnancy would involve “significant risk to the physical or mental health” of the pregnant person.
The latest bill, endorsed by prominent pro-life campaigner Joanna Howe, would remove that clause and effectively ban abortion from 25 weeks onwards except when it is necessary to save the life of the mother.
It also removes serious foetal abnormalities as a valid reason to perform a late-term abortion, with Ms Howe stating the new laws would “provide protection for all children, irrespective of any kind of disability that they have”.
Ms Game said the parliament has a responsibility to “protect vulnerable human life” and have an “honest conversation about where South Australia draws the line”.
“If we can make time to debate protecting possums, surely we can have a conversation about protecting the lives of healthy babies,” she said, referencing the ongoing debate about tree felling in Possum Park for the North Adelaide Golf Course upgrade.
“This debate goes to fundamental questions about medicine, ethics and the value we place on human life.”
Ms Game and Ms Howe were among those who gathered on the steps of the South Australian parliament for a rally in support of the bill.
The latest push for a roll-back will be fiercely opposed by abortion rights campaigners who have described previous attempts to place additional limits on access to termination as both an attack on women’s rights and a danger to their health.
Ms Game hopes to bring the bill to a vote before parliament’s winter break at the end of June.
FULL STORY
Third attempt to change SA’s abortion laws since 2024 goes before state parliament (By Thomas Kelsall and Kathryn Bermingham, ABC News)
