Abortion laws
1. Before the 1970s the majority in the country thought abortion was morally wrong.
2. The Victorian Law Reform Commission reported that (as at 2005) 81 per cent of Australians either agreed or strongly agreed with the proposition that: “A woman should have the right to choose whether or not she has an abortion
3. The Victorian Parliament removed abortion from the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) in 2008. Legislation making it unlawful to seek or provide an abortion was believed to be not consistent with the majority of society’s values, so the law was changed.
4. In 2015, Victorian Parliament made protesting outside of abortion clinics partially unlawful, by creating a safe ‘exclusion zone’. This was because many people entering or leaving the clinics were being harassed and emotionally traumatised by anti-choice activists. Following the legalisation of abortion, the Parliament felt further laws were necessary to implement the change in practice.