Women will be allowed abortion on demand in the state of Western Australia following the passage of the country's most liberal abortion laws yesterday by the state parliament.
After a debate of more than 70 hours stretching over two months, the parliament approved new laws allowing a woman to have an abortion as long as she undergoes medical counselling. However, abortion will remain a criminal offence in the state.
Abortion is not legal in Australia's six states and two territories, but is officially allowed if a woman's life is at risk.
Each year some 80,000 women circumvent the anti-abortion laws using 1960s and 1970s common law rulings which permit abortion on social and economic grounds.
"I think we've done a pretty good job and we certainly have historical legislation here now in Western Australia which I hope will stand the test of time," said Ms Cheryl Davenport, the politician who proposed the new abortion laws.
"I would think that other (state) jurisdictions will be looking to tidy up their laws and so they should," Ms Davenport said.
Under the new law, a woman must have the support of two doctors and undergo compulsory counselling before making the final decision to abort. Doctors breaching the law remain subject to criminal charges, but a A$50,000 (about £22,000) fine has replaced the previous maximum penalty of 14 years' jail. An anti-abortion campaigner, Mr Richard Egan, said the new abortion laws were simply a form of violence, calling the state parliament "a gang of criminals".