Public responsibility for abortion care and the role of law

Baird, B; Thomson, M; Dawson, A; Bateson, D; Black, KI; Shilbury, S

Public responsibility for abortion care and the role of law

Baird, B Thomson, M

Dawson, A Bateson, D Black, KI Shilbury, S

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Publisher:: SAGE Publications
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Medical Law International

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Baird, B
dc.contributor.author	Thomson, M https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1570-2481
dc.contributor.author	Dawson, A
dc.contributor.author	Bateson, D
dc.contributor.author	Black, KI
dc.contributor.author	Shilbury, S
dc.date.accessioned	2025-01-07T04:26:40Z
dc.date.available	2025-01-07T04:26:40Z
dc.identifier.citation	Medical Law International
dc.identifier.issn	0968-5332
dc.identifier.issn	2047-9441
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/183083
dc.description.abstract	<jats:p> As part of a global liberalising trend, the last two decades have seen abortion decriminalised in each of Australia’s States and Territories. In this article, we focus on New South Wales (NSW) – the country’s most populous jurisdiction – and locate the State’s abortion law reform in its global context. Abortion was decriminalised in NSW in 2019. As part of this, the State introduced a new legal framework that continues the long history of exceptionalising abortion in the legal regulation of heath care. Furthermore, while decriminalisation is a necessary modernising reform, it is not a guarantee of improved access to services. This has been the experience in a number of decriminalised jurisdictions, including NSW. In this, we argue that services remain simultaneously over- and under-regulated. Responding to this, and centring public responsibility for abortion care, we propose a model designed to advance universal access to abortion services. In this regard, there remains a central role for law and policy in improving health equity. In addressing the role of law in post-decriminalisation jurisdictions, we advance understandings of law as a determinant of health. </jats:p>
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	SAGE Publications
dc.relation.ispartof	Medical Law International
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1177/09685332241308083
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	1801 Law, 2201 Applied Ethics
dc.subject.classification	Law
dc.subject.classification	4804 Law in context
dc.subject.classification	5001 Applied ethics
dc.title	Public responsibility for abortion care and the role of law
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.for	1801 Law
utslib.for	2201 Applied Ethics
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Law
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2025-01-07T04:26:39Z
pubs.publication-status	Published online

Abstract:

As part of a global liberalising trend, the last two decades have seen abortion decriminalised in each of Australia’s States and Territories. In this article, we focus on New South Wales (NSW) – the country’s most populous jurisdiction – and locate the State’s abortion law reform in its global context. Abortion was decriminalised in NSW in 2019. As part of this, the State introduced a new legal framework that continues the long history of exceptionalising abortion in the legal regulation of heath care. Furthermore, while decriminalisation is a necessary modernising reform, it is not a guarantee of improved access to services. This has been the experience in a number of decriminalised jurisdictions, including NSW. In this, we argue that services remain simultaneously over- and under-regulated. Responding to this, and centring public responsibility for abortion care, we propose a model designed to advance universal access to abortion services. In this regard, there remains a central role for law and policy in improving health equity. In addressing the role of law in post-decriminalisation jurisdictions, we advance understandings of law as a determinant of health.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/183083