Abortion: time to clarify Australia's confusing laws

Crespigny, Lachlan J de; Savulescu, Julian

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb06593.x

Cited by 14 publications

(22 citation statements)

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“…Even when abortion is legal and available, women in developed countries are restricted from accessing abortion services in many ways 13. Where abortion is located in the criminal code14 15 it creates a lack of confidence for both women and their doctors 16 17. It also hinders coordinated policy development, service delivery and equitable access to safe, legal and affordable abortion services 18…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barriers and facilitators of access to first-trimester abortion services for women in the developed world: a systematic review

Doran

Nancarrow

2015

J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care

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ObjectivesTo identify the barriers and facilitators to accessing first-trimester abortion services for women in the developed world.MethodsSystematic review of published literature. CINAHL, PubMed, Proquest, MEDLINE, InformIT, Scopus, PsycINFO and Academic Search Premier were searched for papers written in the English language, from the developed world, including quantitative and qualitative articles published between 1993 and 2014.ResultsThe search initially yielded 2511 articles. After screening of title, abstract and removing duplicates, 38 articles were reviewed. From the provider perspective, barriers included moral opposition to abortion, lack of training, too few physicians, staff harassment, and insufficient hospital resources, particularly in rural areas. From the women's perspective, barriers included lack of access to services (including distance and lack of service availability), negative attitudes of staff, and the associated costs of the abortion procedure. Service access could be enhanced by increasing training, particularly for mid-level practitioners; by increasing the range of service options, including the use of telehealth; and by creating clear guidelines and referral procedures to alternative providers when staff have a moral opposition to abortion.ConclusionDespite fewer legal barriers to accessing abortion services, the evidence from this review suggests that women in developed countries still face significant inequities in terms of the level of quality and access to services as recommended by the World Health Organization.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barriers and facilitators of access to first-trimester abortion services for women in the developed world: a systematic review

Doran

Nancarrow

2015

J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care

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“…In Australia, laws relating to late termination are even more unclear and vary from state to state 6 11. My survey of clinical geneticists and obstetricians with specialist training in obstetric ultrasonography showed similar variation in practice to that found by Green 6.…”

Section: Legal Uncertaintymentioning

confidence: 66%

“…I have argued elsewhere that we urgently need to clarify the law in this area 11. In the absence of such clarification, practitioners have a legitimate right to refuse to provide a service which they believe to be illegal.…”

Section: Legal Uncertaintymentioning

confidence: 99%

Conscientious objection in medicine

Savulescu

2006

BMJ

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354

216

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“…Australian abortion laws vary throughout jurisdictions and are summarised elsewhere 1 , 2 . Nearly all include a “maternal interests” criterion for abortion 1 .…”

Section: The Lawmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Australian abortion laws vary throughout jurisdictions and are summarised elsewhere 1 , 2 . Nearly all include a “maternal interests” criterion for abortion 1 . This is the sole criterion in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania, where even a “lethal” fetal abnormality is not legal grounds for abortion.…”

Section: The Lawmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pregnant women with fetal abnormalities: the forgotten people in the abortion debate

Crespigny

Savulescu

2008

Medical Journal of Australia

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Abortion law reform focuses on early abortion. Women wanting to have a family who have a fetal abnormality detected later in pregnancy are neglected in the debate and harmed by the consequences of current legal uncertainty. Unclear abortion laws compromise: the quality of prenatal testing; management when an abnormality is found; and patient care, through obstetricians’ fears of legal repercussions. Women carrying a fetus with an abnormality are being denied abortion, even when the abnormality is so severe that non‐treatment would be an option if the baby were born. Many women are likely to refuse to consider motherhood if they are denied appropriate prenatal testing and access to abortion if serious abnormalities are detected. Current abortion laws result in discriminatory and inconsistent practices, where access to prenatal testing and termination of pregnancy depends on location, the values of the treating doctor or hospital ethics committee, and a woman's personal resources. Legal certainty is needed to reduce the suffering of couples wanting to have a family.

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Abortion: time to clarify Australia's confusing laws

Cited by 14 publications

References 0 publications

Barriers and facilitators of access to first-trimester abortion services for women in the developed world: a systematic review

Barriers and facilitators of access to first-trimester abortion services for women in the developed world: a systematic review

Conscientious objection in medicine

Pregnant women with fetal abnormalities: the forgotten people in the abortion debate

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