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ALHR supports call for safe access zones for abortions
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) has backed a private member’s bill in NSW to introduce safe access zones to stop harassment at abortion clinics in the state.
Jerome Doraisamy
The national legal representative body for human rights has expressed its strong support for the creation of safe access zones surrounding reproductive health services clinics in order to better protect and promote the human rights of women accessing essential health services, it said in a statement.
The Public Health Amendment (Safe Access to Reproductive Health Clinics) Bill 2018 has been introduced as a private member’s bill by the Honourable Penny Sharpe MLC and the Honourable Trevor Khan MLC into the NSW Legislative Council.
The bill would create safe access zones of 150 metres around abortion clinics to protect against harassment and abuse, and would follow the examples set by Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory.
“We strongly support safe access zones around abortion clinics as essential to the protection of women and girls and the staff who care for them,” Ms Weste said.
Such zones do not deny groups or individuals the opportunity to freely express their views, she added.
“UN human rights bodies as well as courts in similar countries such as America and Canada have all found that sensible measures to ensure safe access to women’s health services do not unreasonably limit the right to freedom of expression and assembly,” she noted.
“Under international law and most jurisdictions, the right to freedom of speech has never been an unqualified right.”
“By contrast, access to safe and legal abortion services, in accordance with human rights standards, is part of a state’s obligations to eliminate discrimination against women and girls, and to ensure their right to health and other fundamental human rights,” she argued.
The introduction of the private members’ bill also afforded ALHR an opportunity to renew its push for the decriminalisation of abortion in NSW, which remains punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment under the state’s Crimes Act.
“ALHR strenuously renews its calls for the NSW government and the opposition to immediately introduce or support legislation to decriminalise abortion,” Ms Weste said.
“While abortion providers operate in NSW, they exist within an ambiguous legal space, and as a result, access to services is limited.”
81 per cent of Australians believe women should have the right to choose, she said, and somewhere between half and one quarter of Australian women will access an abortion service in their lifetime.
As such, the current NSW laws are archaic, she argued, and not reflective of community values or of internationally recognised human rights principles.
“Those who seek abortions should not be treated as criminals or subjected to harassment and intimidation,” she concluded.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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