Medical professionals are best placed to assess patients’ specific circumstances, law society says
The Law Society of South Australia has again confirmed its support for the Termination of Pregnancy Act 2021, which in its belief needs no further amendment relating to termination procedures.
“Good laws reflect contemporary values, the best available evidence and industry best practice,” said Alexander Lazarevich, the law society’s president, in a statement.
The law society voiced its view that the current legislation mostly aligns with these principles by placing abortion under a health model and with the rigorous ethical and regulatory framework governing the medical profession.
According to the law society, a medical professional is in the best position to assess a patient’s individual circumstances and to treat the patient in line with the best medical practice standards and the ethical framework applicable to all medical professionals.
“The law ought not to unduly interfere with or restrict the capacity of medical professionals to provide appropriate, individualised and evidence-based patient care,” said Lazarevich in the law society’s statement.
Background
The law society expressed its strong support for the legislation leading up to its passage, including by publishing submissions and explainers stressing the importance of updating the state’s outdated laws in this area and of treating abortion as a health issue.
Medical organisations like the Australian Medical Association and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) also supported the reforms passed in 2021.
These organisations noted the extraordinary circumstances potentially compelling pregnant individuals to consider late-term abortions, including late presentation or diagnosis (such as a foetal abnormality diagnosis), reproductive coercion or domestic violence, difficulty accessing abortion services, and serious illness during pregnancy (such as a cancer diagnosis).
The Act, which decriminalised abortion, was introduced by then attorney general Vickie Chapman and was passed in 2021 after much debate. It was informed by the South Australian Law Reform Institute’s report recommending a full decriminalisation model.
The law society’s statement noted that, under the legislation’s present state, two doctors should agree that termination is medically appropriate for pregnancies over 22 weeks and six days.
The current law provides that both doctors should share the opinion that an abortion is appropriate either to save the pregnant person’s life or to save another foetus, or the opinion that continuing the pregnancy would expose the pregnant person to significant physical or mental health risks, or the opinion that the pregnancy carries a significant risk of serious foetal anomalies, the law society also noted.
