Bill that would allow South Australians seeking an abortion to have a later birth amounts to ‘forced birth’, say Greens

A new bill that would force South Australians seeking an abortion after 28 weeks to give birth has been condemned by the Greens as an attempt to restrict access to health care.

The bill was introduced in the state parliament on Wednesday by Liberal Party leader Ben Hood, but it is not a Liberal policy and is unlikely to be passed by both houses of parliament.

Under existing law, abortions are allowed after 22 weeks and six days in extreme circumstances where there is a significant risk to the mother or fetus. Under the proposed legislation, a woman who needs an abortion after 27 weeks and six days would have to keep or adopt the baby.

Hood argued that the bill would not take away a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy because the pregnancy would end once the baby was born.

“If a pregnancy has to be terminated, it is imperative that the baby is born alive,” he said.

“The bill ensures that the mother’s decision to terminate her pregnancy is respected, but also that the child is given a chance to live.

“What is innovative about this bill is that it allows a mother to terminate her pregnancy at any time during the nine months, and even up until birth.”

The Liberal Party will allow a vote of conscience on the issue.

Abortions were decriminalized in South Africa in 2021. These reforms include the 22-week, six-day limit and the circumstances under which abortions take place.

Hood claimed that 45 abortions had taken place after that limit.

SA Health data shows that in 2023, less than 1% of abortions (47) were performed after that stage, but fewer than five were performed after 27 weeks.

Hood claimed that these fetuses were “healthy, viable babies” and “individual, unrepeatable human lives.”

“Of these 47 abortions, 37 were performed due to the physical or mental health of the mother and 10 were performed due to foetal abnormalities,” SA Health said in a statement.

“In the first 18 months after the legislation was introduced, there were fewer than five terminations after 27 weeks and no terminations after 29 weeks.”

Greens MLC Tammy Franks said subsequent abortions were “very complex, often heartbreaking cases” and that “playing politics with health care is dangerous folly”.

“His proposal would force children to be born; victims of rape, incest and sexual slavery; or in long-awaited pregnancies where the mother or fetus will not survive his plans for forced birth,” she said.

“The South African Greens strongly oppose attempts to roll back hard-won reproductive rights. We will continue to fight for policies that ensure access to comprehensive health care, including reproductive services, without fear or stigma.”

Hood thanked anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe for her work on the bill. Howe has advocated nationally for “born alive” laws and wants “an Australia where abortion is is unthinkable” and is a specialist in the field of labour migration and professor of law at the University of Adelaide.

Gillian Gibson, president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said abortion is “an essential health service”.

“A decision to terminate a pregnancy should be a conversation between women and their doctors,” she said.

“Any attempt to further legalize abortion is an attempt to deny women access to health care.”

South Australian Liberal leader Vincent Tarzia told ABC radio the motion was not party policy but that Hood was a “rising star”. Conservative South Australian senator Alex Antic has previously called him the “Ron DeSantis of South Australia”.