Western Australian Parliament passes bill despite opposition of several MPs

Western Australia’s parliament has passed the first major changes to the state's abortion laws in a quarter of a century.

Transcript

00:00 The government's really been selling these reforms about modernising the state's laws

00:05 and making it easier for women to access abortion, particularly in regional areas.

00:11 Some of the big changes are removing the need for two doctors to be involved in most abortions,

00:16 getting rid of the requirement for women to receive mandatory counselling, and changing

00:21 the point that more stringent conditions are imposed.

00:24 Currently that's at 20 weeks and it's been pushed out to 23 weeks.

00:30 The government says these are really about bringing the laws in line with other states.

00:35 WA was the first state to decriminalise abortion about a quarter of a century ago, but certain

00:41 concessions had to be made as part of that process to get the laws through Parliament

00:45 and they've persisted ever since.

00:48 So after some quite lengthy debate in Parliament, the laws have now passed and the Leader of

00:54 the Government in the Upper House, Sue Ellery, last night thanked both sides for the way

00:58 they've conducted themselves.

00:59 For the most part, the bill has been conducted respectfully and calmly, despite people's

01:07 very strong feelings about it.

01:09 This is fundamentally different to the way the debate was conducted in this place 25

01:13 years ago.

01:14 Liberal MP Nick Garan was really the other leading critic.

01:19 He spoke for some time last night as the bill passed, speaking about what he would have

01:25 liked to have seen.

01:26 He put forward a number of amendments which ultimately weren't successful because of Labor's

01:30 majority in both houses of Parliament.

01:34 One of the issues that he was particularly upset about, and in fact became visibly emotional

01:39 in the Chamber last night when he was speaking about it, was a change that would remove the

01:45 requirement for the coroner to investigate certain cases where a baby might live for

01:50 a very short period after being born after an abortion.

01:54 Here's a bit of what he had to say.

01:57 The bill attempts to make sure that the WA coroner never investigates these cases.

02:05 Unlike in New South Wales, unlike in the Northern Territory and unlike in every other jurisdiction,

02:10 this is darkness, clothing itself in darkness.

02:13 WA's health minister explained that this was being removed because it's seen as unnecessary

02:20 and traumatising by doctors and there's no need for it when these women undergo really

02:27 a lawful medical procedure and that it's part of that process.

02:31 So the laws have now passed Parliament.

02:34 The Government says there'll be about a six month period where they work out the finer

02:38 details and the implementation before these changes take effect for West Australian women.

02:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]