Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

and about women making what is always a difficult decision being supported in making that decision. Accessing abortion in Australia has been a struggle. The law reform that has occurred across the country has occurred. For those senators on the other side who are trying to debate this issue here today, it is only a matter of time before we have full decriminalisation of abortion across the country, following on from the states where it has already occurred. It will occur in Queensland, because this is about women's reproductive lives. It is about their ability to control their own bodies. It is about every woman who needs to access an abortion having the right to access this vital health service safely, affordably and legally.

Abortions occur even when we have legislation that has criminalised abortion. They continue to occur. Abortions will continue to occur for a whole range of reasons. We need to put in place a legal framework to make sure that they can occur legally and safely and we need to change our laws across the country. The Greens have a commitment to legalise abortion, because we recognise that that right is essential. My new colleague Senator Faruqi tried to get changes to the New South Wales abortion laws. That legislation was defeated last year, but that legislation will be put up again. New South Wales laws will be changed. The Queensland laws will be changed. The difficult decision that a woman and her medical practitioner have to make to determine whether an abortion is the appropriate thing to do is what women right across this country go through every day. They can be trusted to make the right decisions about their own bodies. They do not need to have men in this place telling them that those decisions are wrong and that those decisions are something to be ashamed of.

Accessing abortion is still too difficult in Australia. Women in Australia still have to run the gauntlet of protesters as they go through this difficult time in their lives. It is expensive. It is not available to people across the country. We have been through the debates in Tasmania. You have not been able to access an abortion in recent months in Tasmania. It is not available in public hospitals. It should be available across the country. These are the barriers that are still being put in the way of women accessing abortion. These are the barriers that need to change—we do not need to move further away from changing our laws—so that all women have an opportunity to have control of their own bodies and are able to look after their health in a way that is safe, affordable and legal.