Elizabeth O’Shea comments:
This week, a woman and her partner will be put on trial in Queensland for a crime that should not be on the statute books.
Tegan Leach and her partner, Sergie Brennan, have been charged under sections 225 and 226 of the Queensland Criminal Code 1899. These sections prohibit a woman procuring her own miscarriage and a person supplying drugs to procure an abortion. The case presents us the chance to reflect on the current state of the law and compelling opportunity us to consider what the reform might look like.
The charges have been laid because allegedly Brennan sought the help of his sister overseas to import misoprostol, a drug used for abortions in a similar way to RU486. Leach is accused of taking the misprostol whilst she was pregnant. Leach and Brennan face maximum sentences of seven and three years respectively. This is the first time since 1959 that section 225 has been considered judicially. There are no reports of any prosecutions under section 226.
Read more on ABC (AU).
Via @abcthedrum by way of @lods1211