Abortion is an issue within our society that is argumentative on both sides with opposing points of view, one being pro-choice and one being pro-life. This essay will discuss abortion laws in Queensland whilst exploring how the legislation should be modified. All issues regarding to this topic of discussion need to be looked at with an open-mind and awareness of all viewpoints. Abortion laws in Queensland do not support the forever changing beliefs of society, they do not allow the public to have a say and do not consider the women's rights. This essay will be evaluating the current effectiveness and practicality of current laws and issues.
The abortion laws that are regarding to the state of Queensland can be found in The Criminal Code Qld
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The current legislation does not allow a woman to exercise her reproductive rights that have been fought for since the second wave of feminism in the 1960's. (Children Choice, 2018). In section 282 of The Criminal Code 1899 (Qld), it can be found that an abortion can only take place when a doctor or a person of higher power believes it will have detrimental effects on the woman's mental or physical health. This then means that rape, disabilities or abnormalities are not sufficient grounds to request and/or have an abortion. (Children Choice, 2017). A recent abortion case that has questioned the quality of the legislation was the 22A case, "Prisoner with schizophrenia has bid for termination of twins rejected". However, there are many similar accounts of this case. This case demonstrates a woman making a decision based on her body to have an abortion due to her illness and current position but was rejected due to her reasoning not being sufficient enough in the eye of the law. Unfortunately, even though the public created an up raw in response to this case legal prosecutors still did not change the outcome. This then falls back and correlates with the ambiguous and unfair legislation. This case then evidently reveals the issue of; how can the law or a person of the law determine what is the best for every individual. Caroline De Costa states "It leads to abortion occupying a very grey area in …show more content…
The current laws are supporting and concerned with the sanctity of life known as pro-life and that there are better ways to not have a child than an abortion. The United Nations is an organisation that tries to prevent abortion becoming legalised and prevent people having an abortion. The case R v Wade and Doe V, was a precedent case that made states make abortion illegal. The case demonstrates a woman wanting an abortion but was in perfect condition to have a child but made out like she had a condition, she was then granted an abortion, later down the track she was found to have no condition. This is why abortion laws are so harsh as this lady lied to get her way. They made it illegal to ensure that this unjust event does not reoccur. That is why the reform should include that it is to prove or be supported by a doctor that an abortion is suitable, this is than cancels the chance of this case re-occurring. Abortion being legalised also allows for more chances of people having contraceptive sex which leads to higher unwanted pregnancies. The current law is support the ideology of pro-life but is not taking into account the rest of society that is pro-choice. Once again, a person of law cannot determine one's ability or capacity to either have a child or to have an