The landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalised abortion in the US in 1973 could be overturned as soon as next Monday, which could affect women across the world.
“I think we are influenced by the American movement and I think that threat is escalating,” Dr Tania Penovic from the Castan Centre for Human Rights told A Current Affair.
Anti-abortion protesters marched through the streets of Brisbane in late April, arguing against Australia’s reproductive policies.
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The former assistant minister for women Amanda Stoker attended the rally.
Melbourne woman Yolanda Vega was shocked to see politicians attending the protests and is fearful the anti-abortion movement in Australia is growing.
“Every person should be able to make a decision on how they want to live. We can’t continue traumatising women because they need to make a very serious decision,” Vega said.
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Vega lived through the experience of having an abortion, an experience she’ll never forget.
“I’m like many Australian women, unfortunately, who has survived domestic violence and lost a child through that experience and then out of fear, I also made the decision to have an abortion,” she said.
Last year, an online study by Ipsos found seven in 10 Australian adults support access to abortion.
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But the same study revealed abortion support is high in the UK, but is on the decline.
Eighty per cent supported it in 2021, compared to 85 per cent in 2014.
“The forces that we’re seeing in the US right now, do have the ability to influence laws and policies in Australia. They do have the potential to wind back abortion access, introduce restrictions,” Penovic said.
There’s historical evidence that criminalising abortion doesn’t reduce the number of terminations performed, but rather reduces the safety of the procedures.
In 1976, the US Centres for Disease Control examined national abortion data and found the number of illegal terminations plummeted from 130,000 to 17,000 between 1972 and 1974, after Roe v. Wade legalised abortion in 1973.
In the same period, the number of deaths associated with illegal abortions decreased from 39 to five.
“Restrictive abortion laws will result in some women risking their health; their lives, in order to control their own fertility. And that’s a very sobering reality to contemplate,” she said.
The US Supreme Court updated its calendar to include Opinion Issuance Days on June 13 and June 15, meaning a decision on Roe v. Wade could be announced after the weekend.
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