Last week was one of much activity in the regional city of Cairns, as the push for abortion law reform in the state shows no sign of slowing down.
On June 10, the Cairns Women's Network (CWN) presented a petition to Barron River state MP Steve Wettenhall, calling on legislative assembly members to repeal sections 224, 225 and 226 of the Criminal Code to ensure that termination of pregnancy is no longer subject to criminal law.
The petition was signed by more than 840 people from district in just a few weeks.
"We found that an overwhelming majority of people, grandparents, women, men, young adults all lined up to sign the petition", CWN's Carla Gorton told Green Left Weekly. "More than 90% of people we approached agreed to sign."
On June 11, in the Cairns Magistrates' Court, the case against a young woman and her partner accused of procuring an abortion using the drug misoprostol was adjourned for one week.
On June 12, doctor Caroline de Costa, who had already temporarily ceased administering mifepristone (RU486) due to the legal uncertainty surrounding the local criminal prosecution, said she had received legal advice that the use of RU486 for medical abortion in Queensland is not lawful.
As de Costa wrote on Crikey.com on June 12: "Given this very explicit advice from an eminent legal practitioner, we have been forced not to resume the practice of medical abortion in Cairns, using the combination of RU486 and misoprostol, until there is a clear legal framework in which we can care for our patients, and in which we can be certain that those patients, as well as ourselves, do not risk prosecution.
"The State of Queensland covers a vast area and many women live in rural and remote areas. Accessing surgical abortion in Brisbane or the few other large centres where it is provided can be financially, geographically and socially difficult if not impossible for women from far-flung parts of the state.
"In 2006, when the Harradine amendment was overturned in the Federal Parliament and we were given approval by the TGA to use RU486, we felt that at last we were beginning to solve this problem. We will be continuing to press strongly for reform of abortion law in Queensland in line with that in other states with the definite aim of making safe medical abortion accessible to all Queensland women."