- Abortion to be legal after MPs back controversial bill
- By David Rood
- The Age
- 10/10/2008 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: The Rooster ( 264 articles in 2008 )
Victorian Premier John Brumby says he's pleased to see legislation to decriminalise abortion pass through the upper house.
Mr Brumby, who supported the legislation when it was passed in the lower house, spoke to reporters after the vote was passed 23-17 in the Legislative Council this morning.
"We'll now have in place in Victoria legislation that will take abortion out of the criminal code,'' Mr Brumby said.
"So I am pleased to see the result. It was a strong vote in the lower house, it's a comfortable majority in the upper house.''
Mr Brumby said there had been good debate in parliament before MPs held conscience votes and a good outcome had been achieved.
"The standard of the debate has generally been very high. MPs have respected the views of others and what are deeply held views,'' he said.
He also responded to a protester thrown out of parliament today as the vote was passed, screaming ``there will be blood on your hands''.
"Some people have very strong views, so I am not going to judge that,'' he said.
Amendments to the bill are now being debated, before a third and final vote is held.
The bill seeks to decriminalise abortions up to 24 weeks, removing it from the Crimes Act.
MPs voted 23 to 17 in favour of the bill after an exhaustive and emotional debate, with Brumby Government Minister Theo Theophanous and Treasurer John Lenders voting against the bill.
The result of the vote was initially greeted with silence but two pro-life activists were removed from the gallery for shouting abuse at MPs.
"There is blood on your hands,'' one screamed.
"There will be retribution in this country,'' another yelled.
AAP, David Rood
Mr Brumby, who supported the legislation when it was passed in the lower house, spoke to reporters after the vote was passed 23-17 in the Legislative Council this morning.
"We'll now have in place in Victoria legislation that will take abortion out of the criminal code,'' Mr Brumby said.
"So I am pleased to see the result. It was a strong vote in the lower house, it's a comfortable majority in the upper house.''
Mr Brumby said there had been good debate in parliament before MPs held conscience votes and a good outcome had been achieved.
"The standard of the debate has generally been very high. MPs have respected the views of others and what are deeply held views,'' he said.
He also responded to a protester thrown out of parliament today as the vote was passed, screaming ``there will be blood on your hands''.
"Some people have very strong views, so I am not going to judge that,'' he said.
Amendments to the bill are now being debated, before a third and final vote is held.
The bill seeks to decriminalise abortions up to 24 weeks, removing it from the Crimes Act.
MPs voted 23 to 17 in favour of the bill after an exhaustive and emotional debate, with Brumby Government Minister Theo Theophanous and Treasurer John Lenders voting against the bill.
The result of the vote was initially greeted with silence but two pro-life activists were removed from the gallery for shouting abuse at MPs.
"There is blood on your hands,'' one screamed.
"There will be retribution in this country,'' another yelled.
AAP, David Rood
Source: https://www.theage.com.au/national/abortion-to-be-legal-after-mps-back-controversial-bill-20081010-4xxn.html
1Will not be visible to public.
2Receive notification of other comments posted for this article. To cease notification after having posted click here.
3To make a link clickable in the comments box enclose in link tags - ie.<link>Link</link>.
4To show an image enclose the image URL in tags - ie.<image>https://fredspage.com/box.jpg</image>. Note: image may be resized if too large
To further have your say, head to our forum Click Here
To contribute a news article Click Here
To view or contribute a Quote Click Here