15 October 2010

Radical Women – Australian feminists demand Queensland government decriminalise abortion and laud couple’s court victory

On October 14 in Cairns, Queensland a jury acquitted a young couple of abortion charges brought against them under Queensland’s 19th century criminal code. The jury’s decision was unanimous. A conviction could have sent them to prison. For women in Queensland and other states, it also would have set a catastrophic precedent. 

From Melbourne, Victoria Radical Women worked with grassroots abortion rights organisations and activists around Australia to publicise the case, rally support for the couple, and demand that the Queensland government decriminalise abortion. Once the acquittal was announced, RW issued the following media release:

Radical Women joins Australia’s pro-choice majority in celebrating the acquittal in Cairns of Tegan Leach, the first woman tried in Queensland for “procuring” her abortion, and her partner, Sergie Brennan, who was tried for allegedly assisting her.

But Debbie Brennan, Radical Women’s Melbourne Organiser, says: “We also join people across Australia, and indeed the world, in condemning the Queensland government for allowing the charges against the couple to proceed. To subject anyone to such an ordeal over what should be every woman’s right is an outrage. The Bligh government does not have the principles or courage to legislate the decriminalisation of abortion. Instead it continues to serve anti-abortion interests in its efforts to shore up its support base. This is a disgrace.”

Brennan adds: “The now infamous prosecution was a rightwing reaction against Victoria’s decriminalisation of abortion two years ago – a backlash that is part of a global anti-abortion movement. A tiny minority of woman haters is determined to force women back home, off the streets and out of the workplace, where we are effective organisers for much-needed change. They consciously serve the interests of big corporations, desperate to use the Global Financial Crisis as an excuse to claw back decades of social gains.

“The Cairns case also ignited an international call to the Queensland government to follow Victoria and decriminalise abortion immediately. No one should face such a trial again. Every woman should have control over her own body.”

Brennan vows, “Radical Women will continue to campaign actively with the growing numbers of activists and advocates in Queensland — and in other states and territories — to achieve full reproductive freedom for all women in Australia.”