Page 1128 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 23 June 1992
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History shows us that, whatever the legislation relating to termination of pregnancy is, the procedure will still be carried out. It is not because termination is a preferred method of contraception but because contraception has failed, for whatever reason. Once we acknowledge this simple fact, the rest becomes clear. The community then has an obligation to ensure that women have the best advice on how to deal with unplanned pregnancy, including advice on termination of the pregnancy, and access to safe and effective termination of pregnancy services.
From a Labor government's point of view, we must provide better options for women in the ACT. Repeal of the Termination of Pregnancy Act 1978 in the ACT will simply remove the restriction of the procedure to a hospital conducted by the Board of Health, as has been said many times in this debate; but, most importantly, it will improve the options available to women. It will ensure that a sensible approach is taken to this issue. This will mean that the situation in the ACT will be similar to that in New South Wales and Victoria where, under common law, termination of pregnancy is not unlawful if it is done with the honest belief that the termination is necessary to preserve the woman from serious danger to her life or physical or mental health.
We have heard about the 1,100 women who are forced to go interstate. Some of those, I suspect, even with the repeal of this legislation, might choose to exercise that option. But that is what it is all about - improving the options available to ACT women. Why should they be discriminated against? Why should male members of the Liberal Party and other sections of the community argue that they should continue to be discriminated against? They should not. Repeal does not mean that backyard abortionists will flock to Canberra to terrorise the women of the ACT, as has been suggested by Mr Cornwell. Services in the ACT will be safe and professional and will include adequate counselling before, during and after the procedure. The medical profession is strictly controlled by its own registration boards, and soon in the ACT there will emerge a very comprehensive complaints unit for dealing with these sorts of matters. So it will be comprehensively regulated. Mr Cornwell need have no fear.
Repeal of the Act does not mean that more Canberra women will choose to terminate their pregnancies. In fact, with proper counselling, women will be able to make more informed choices. I hear the men muttering, "Yes, it does". Again, men are experts in these matters. Four of the five women in this Assembly have indicated their support for the repeal of this legislation. I suggest that you take some notice of the experts, Mr Humphries. Repeal simply means that, if a woman decides to terminate her unplanned pregnancy, she has the choice of a number of different termination of pregnancy services in the ACT, instead of only one service in the public hospital system, and that clearly has not worked, as was adequately explained by Mrs Carnell. Women in the ACT find the current legislation so restrictive that many go interstate.
For some women, it will continue to be appropriate for terminations to be carried out in the public hospital system, and that is why this Government will continue to provide those services in the public hospital system, as Mr Humphries did. For others - the majority of ACT women - the idea of undergoing a termination of pregnancy in the institutional setting of a hospital is not acceptable. Labor will ensure that counselling and support services are available and accessible to those in need, whether they have the procedure in a hospital or in a community setting.
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