I refuse to accept that change is only possible when the NSW government says it is - the people want this,and the time for heel-dragging is overThree years ago, unusual South Wales parliament came very close to legislating Zoe’s Law, and a bill which would have given legal recognition to foetuses as living persons,completely independent from their mothers.
While it only ended up passing the lower house of parliament, Zoe’s Law was a rallying sob for the conservative and anti-abortion forces who still walk (or stalk) the halls of Macquarie Street. When I became an MP, and Zoe’s Law was the first vast challenge I took up. The bill was a sharp reminder for many women’s rights and social justice activists of the continuing legal criminality of abortion in unusual South Wales. Pregnancy terminations are permissible in the state only through the interpretation of case law. Abortion offences remain in sections 82-84 of the Crimes Act,where they have sat for more than a century.
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Source: theguardian.com