MEDIA RELEASE
27 November 2015
NSW Greens MP Welcomes Safe Access Zones for Abortion Clinics in Victoria, Calls on Baird Government and the Opposition to Support Change in NSW
Greens NSW MP and Spokesperson for the Status of Women, Dr Mehreen Faruqi MLC, has welcomed new laws passed in Victoria today to prevent the harassment and intimidation of women accessing reproductive health clinics through safe access zones, also called exclusion zones, and has stated that the debate must now shift to NSW, where Dr Faruqi has a bill to decriminalise abortion and enact exclusion zones in the Legislative Council.
Dr Faruqi said:
“We are seeing momentum for decriminalising abortion and providing safe access zones around abortion clinics snowballing across the country, with Victoria today joining the ACT and Tasmania to protect women accessing abortions from harassment and intimidation.
“It is so heartening to see Liberal, National, Labor , Sex Party and Greens MPs all supporting this move in Victoria, something I hope we can replicate in NSW soon.
“Today, I am calling on the Baird Government and the Opposition to support my bill which would create exclusion zones and decriminalise abortion. The women of NSW deserve medical privacy and the right to make decisions for their own bodies.
“NSW unfortunately continues to be the laggard in regards to women’s reproductive rights. Victoria, the ACT and Tasmania have all decriminalised abortion, whilst it remains in the Crimes Act here. My bill would repeal abortion offences from the Crimes Act and create safe access zones.
“We know an overwhelming majority of people in NSW support abortion law reform. Recent Lonergan Research polling has shown that 83 % support creating exclusion zones including an overwhelming majority of Coalition and Labor voters.
“Support for decriminalising abortion and enacting safe access zones is even higher in regional and rural NSW. This is not surprising given issues of access and ongoing harassment faced by women entering abortion clinics in regional areas.
“It is unacceptable that many clinics are currently forced to hire security guards to protect women accessing a medical procedure,” she concluded.