A bill proposing the decriminalisation of abortion for women who are up to nine months pregnant will be tabled in Queensland’s State Parliament on Tuesday.
Independent MP Rob Pyne, representing Cairns, recently drafted a private member’s bill to legalise abortion, which has been essentially prohibited across the state for more than 100 years, according to ABC.
The Liberal National Party will consider the bill this week and Labor members will participate in a conscience vote, LNP leader Tim Nicholls told ABC.
Abortion pro-choice supporters and pro-life protesters were seen rallying outside the Queensland Parliament on Tuesday as politicians discussed the proposed bill.
The LNP has not stated a position on the bill but Deputy Premier Jackie Trad recently told the Brisbane Times that she is ‘absolutely pro-choice’ and that the state’s government needs ‘to catch up with legal precedent and treat pregnancy termination as a health issue, not a criminal issue.’
Abortion has been prohibited in Queensland by the state’s criminal code since 1899 but a ruling in 1986 determined that procedures were possible if a medical professional determined there is a risk to the mother’s physical or mental health, according to ABC.
The law was amended in 2009 allowing surgical or chemical abortions.
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