ABORTION IN THE SHADOW OF THE CRIMINAL LAW? THE CASE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

In 1969, the South Australian Parliament passed amendments to the criminal law designed to liberalise abortion and clearly state the circumstances in which abortion services might lawfully be provided by medical practitioners. Nevertheless, abortion offences, and the circumstances under which abortion may lawfully be provided, are stated in the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA), and this fact has given rise to continued concern about the legality of abortion in South Australia. This article considers whether there is any basis for these concerns, with particular focus on the provision of medication abortion, which was not contemplated by Parliament in 1969. In doing so, it draws on the language of the provisions and the extensive parliamentary debates that preceded their passage into law, arguing that Parliament's primary goal was to preserve women's health through clarifying the contexts in which lawful abortion would be available. We contend that any suggestion that medical abortion is criminal in South Australia, or that medical practitioners who comply with the statutory scheme in good faith run the risk of being prosecuted, is not grounded in an accurate account of the positive law. Nor is it supported by the application of the law in practice since 1969.