South Australia last Australian state to take abortion off criminal code in 2022 after decades of advocacy

A pro-choice abortion rally in Victoria Square, Adelaide city.
Image courtesy South Australian Abortion Action Coalition

South Australia became the last Australian state to remove abortion from its criminal code on July 7, 2022, when it enacted the Termination of Pregnancy Act 2021.

After decades of advocacy to remove abortion from South Australia’s criminal code for the first time since 1969, the changes to the termination of pregnancy bill were passed by South Australia’s House of Assembly 29 votes to 15 after a 22-hours debate in February 2021.

The bill allowed abortions after 22 weeks and six days gestation if deemed “medically appropriate” by two medical practitioners. Amendments to the bill in the House of Assembly tightened the provisions around this. Late-term abortions could only be approved if there is a threat to the life of the mother or another foetus, a chance of severe foetal anomalies or “significant risk of injury to physical or mental health” of the mother. The house passed an amendment prohibiting the termination of a pregnancy on the basis of gender.

Attorney general Vickie Chapman, who first proposed the reforms in 2020, hailed the changes as “an historic day for women … We’ve brought it into the 21st century. We have now made provision for women so that they don’t have to go interstate to have a service that it’s otherwise available to other women across the country.”

Some members on both political sides of the House of Assembly voted against the bill due to the provisions relating to late-term abortions but noted the amended law had been improved. They supported moving abortion out of the criminal code but argued this should have been voted on in a separate bill. The bill meant that women in rural areas only having to see one doctor in the early weeks when seeking a termination.

Under controversial regulations drafted by the Liberal state government (2018-22), hospital CEOs or doctors had to report a swathe of patient information to the state health minister after every abortion they performed, including:

• Name and address of the hospital, day procedure centre or other place for the pregnancy termination,
• The name, birth date and address of the patient,
• The date when the pregnancy termination was performed,
• The hospital or clinic patient medical record number,
• The profession and speciality of the registered health professional who performed the termination,
• The method of termination,
• Whether the termination was performed exclusively by administering or prescribing a drug (without surgery),
• Whether the termination was successful,
• Whether there were any complications,
• Whether the patient was admitted for treatment in connection with the termination after it was performed
• The gestation of the foetus at termination (weeks, days)
• Whether a genetic or congenital anomaly test was performed and the outcomes of any test,
• Whether information about counselling was provided

The final regulations no longer required doctors to report the foetus’ gender, whether an autopsy was performed on the foetus and the date of the patient’s last menstrual period or estimated date of conception.

Legal groups, including the Law Society of South Australia, feared the data collection could compromise patient privacy and deter some people from seeking abortions. Women’s Legal Services SA argued the regulations drafted by the Liberal government went “significantly beyond” what was set out in the Act: “They’re essentially asking for everything, every little detail about the woman.”

But Wellbeing SA prevention and population health executive director professor Katina D’Onise said the “highest levels of privacy and confidentiality” would be maintained on the data collection: “This is all about quality and safety.”