On 17 May 2019, Family Planning Alliance Australia (FPAA) released a statement condemning a new law in Alabama which makes abortion a crime in almost all cases. This is the most restrictive abortion law in the United States and follows a wave of anti-abortion laws in 2019¹.
FPAA state:
“The restrictive and extreme abortion ban violates women’s reproductive rights and penalises health care practitioners for providing basic health care. As an organisation committed to empowering reproductive choice and improving access to health care, we find this law disturbing and unjust.”
Natasha Miliotis, SHINE SA’s Chief Executive Officer said that:
“SHINE SA supports the FPAA statement and recognises that access to safe abortion services reduces the mortality and morbidity that occurs as a result of dangerous and illegal abortion. This is evidenced by a higher frequency of abortion-related deaths in countries with restrictive abortion laws than in countries with less restrictive laws².
SHINE SA, a member of FPAA, advocates for reproductive freedom and for provision of legal, safe, affordable and accessible abortion in Australia and worldwide. We recognise that trans, gender diverse and intersex people may also need access to abortion, but also that measures such as this disproportionately affect women.
SHINE SA believes that both medical and surgical abortion are safe and effective health interventions and that abortion is a private medical decision that should not be politicised.”
To read the FPAA statement visit this link. For further information contact Tracey Hutt, Director Workforce Education and Development via email.
¹ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/17/we-have-to-fight-alabamas-extreme-abortion-ban-sparks-wave-of-activism ² https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26677181_Unsafe_Abortion_Unnecessary_Maternal_Mortality