Brisbane, Australia, Oct 8, 2018 / 15:22 pm
A parliamentary committee reportedly supported a proposal Oct. 5 to significantly expand abortion in the northeastern Australian state of Queensland.
The proposed law, set to be debated in Queensland parliament this month, would allow women to terminate pregnancies up to 22 weeks gestation and until birth with the permission of two doctors. The proposed changes are based on a June report from the Queensland Law Reform Commission, which recommended removing abortion from the Criminal Code.
The proposal would also enforce 150 meter "safe zones" around clinics and medical facilities that perform abortions in order to exclude protesters.
Under the proposal, doctors would be permitted to refuse to perform abortions if they have moral objections to doing so, but they must refer patients to another doctor.