Friday, 24 September 2021, 2:34 pm Press Release: Family Planning
Great news and a victory for common sense and for people
seeking abortion services.
That's the response from
Family Planning to a High Court decision today where a group
of health professionals opposed to abortion have lost a
court case over whether their rights were infringed if they
had to tell a woman where to find contact details of
abortion providers. Following law change in March 2020 , a
practitioner with a conscientious objection is obliged to
tell the woman of their objection, and how to find the
contact details of the nearest service
provider.
Justice Ellis in the High Court ruled that
none of the clinicians rights were infringed or limited in
the way alleged. Even if the rights had been limited,
Justice Ellis said, the limits could be shown to be
justified in a free and democratic society.
"We know
many things can make it difficult to access abortion
services - cost, travel, stigma. The idea that a clinician
can themselves be a barrier is completely unacceptable and I
am pleased the court has ruled in this way," Family Planning
chief executive Jackie Edmond
says.
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