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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 7 Hansard (5 June) . . Page.. 1899 ..

MRS DUNNE (continuing):

abortion provider. The bill today gives members in this place an opportunity to safeguard the women of our community, by ensuring they are not pressured into making a decision they may later regret, that may not be in their best interests.

Although I was not a member of this place at the time of the passage of that bill, I observed its passage at close quarters and supported it. The great thing about that legislation was the strong support it received across the board. During that debate, I was particularly struck by the contribution of the then Chief Minister, Kate Carnell, when she spoke so eloquently about the need for information to make a real choice. Mrs Carnell said:

I believe that real choice is about having a full suite of information. I am pro-choice but I believe that choice is available to women or, for that matter, anybody else in our community only when they know what that choice entails and what the breadth of that choice is.

What this bill aims to do is extend the suite of information. The provisions laid out in the bill are simple. They aim to ensure that women faced with a difficult pregnancy can avoid the pressure they sometimes feel when making decisions on how to deal with their pregnancy. The bill amends the current sections 7 and 8 of the act to ensure that anyone who provides information to a woman about an abortion is not associated with a provider of abortion.

This means that anyone who performs, or assists with, abortions-or their employees-would not be eligible to provide statutory information under the act. This means that a person or an entity who stands to make money out of a woman's decision does not exert undue influence in the decision-making process. The amendment goes on to further delineate who might give that sort of information to a woman.

Under section 8 of the act, a woman must be told of the medical risks of termination of pregnancy and of carrying the pregnancy to term. She must also be told of any risks specific to herself, any medical risks associated with the type of procedure proposed and the probable gestational age of the foetus at the time the abortion would be performed. Under my amendments, this information will continue to be provided by a doctor.

Also under section 8, a woman needs to receive counselling about a variety of non-medical issues such as helping agencies that may be available to assist a woman facing a difficult pregnancy. It is my belief, and the belief of many others, that this assistance is best given by specialist counsellors. In both cases, neither the doctor nor the specialist counsellor can be associated with the abortion provider.

Moving on to the Crimes Act: part 3 of this bill amends the Crimes Act to reduce the penalties a woman might face if she undergoes an unlawful abortion. It also creates a new offence-the offence of coercing a woman to have an abortion.

It may come as a surprise, Mr Speaker, but we are on common ground over the view that a woman should not face a major jail sentence because she has had an abortion. That is why I am proposing to amend section 44 of the Crimes Act to reduce the maximum penalty from 10 years imprisonment to one month imprisonment. This move should send

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