The NSW Government is set to debate a bill that will have it become the last state to decriminalise abortion. A new campaign has begun – #Arrest Us.
[divide width=”medium” color=”#dd3333″]
In the early 1970s eighty women declared themselves to be criminals in a national newspaper, taking out an advertisement as a provocation in the campaign to decriminalise abortion.
Fifty years on and abortion is still technically a crime in NSW. A bill to be debated in NSW Parliament this week seeks to finally change that. Should it pass women in NSW will finally have the freedom to make our reproductive health choices without facing the challenges presented because abortion is criminalised.
Far-reaching support for decriminalisation
The decriminalisation of abortion in NSW has wide-reaching community support. The Bill set for debate is co-sponsored by fifteen politicians from across the spectrum. It has substantial cross-bench support but it is not without opposition.
Today, like in the 1970s, and while ever abortion is criminalised, some women face hurdles to access abortions and of course, for many it is difficult to speak out.
The women who took out the advert in the 1970s did it because they could. They had the privilege to be able to speak up and they believed they had a responsibility to do so.
And so it is time again, for those of us who can stand up and speak out to do so. One last time.
We, more than fifty women and fifty long years since that bold action of the 1970s, are making this statement:
We are diverse women. Our abortion experiences are varied. We have had abortions decades ago, and very recently.
We have all had abortions under NSW laws which define abortion as a crime. We want to be the last.
We say: Arrest us.
Abortion is still a crime in NSW. Now is the time for it to change.”
Emily Mayo 2005
Hannah Smith 2019
Carina Muller 2009
Jo Allan 2013
Mindy Clamp (Ottley) 2002, 2018
Christine Donayre 1987, 1993, 2007
Lauren Hutchins 2009
Lisa Smajlov 1991
Nareen Young 1989
Alison Whitaker 2011
Lauren Trask 2003
Phoebe Rose 2015, 2016
Amelie Eloise Reis 2015
Kaye Laurel 1991
Phoebe Beasley 2001
Sylvianne Heim 1982, 1987, 1993
Cecilia Anthony 1997
Georgia Potter Butler 2019
Beverley Baker 1969, 1972
Kirsten Gray 2017
Trish Doyle MP 1998
Summer Finlay 2002
Kerry Nettle 1992
Jan Gillbank 1985, 1987, 1992
Marisa Whittington 2012
Lee Rhiannon 1982
Michelle Keenan Dickins 1984, 1989
Helen Westwood 1986
Alison Sainsbury 1986
Peta Waller-Bryant 2014
Skye McDonald 1998
Jenna Price 1975
Nicole Graham 2002
Susie Carleton 1964
Yvette Andrews 1993, 1996
Robyn Lang 1967
Ariadne Vromen 1994
Jenny Carleton 1995
Jay Black 1998
Alice Kim 2016
Cassi Plate 1982
Eurydice Aroney 1980, 1983
Julie Bates AO 1969
Wendy Bacon 1970, 1971, 1975, 1976
Esther Tholen 1998
Lorraine Wright 1987
Kiana Taylor 2017
Claire Lancaster 2007
Ruth Bearpark 1992
Adele Perovic 2015
Angela Khodeir 2006
Kate Bower 2007
Maralyn Schofield 1989
Belinda Crawford 1994
Kaylene Abilities 2004
Wendy McCarthy 1963
You can help end the criminalisation of reproductive health choices in NSW by sharing this statement and/or your own abortion story using #ArrestUs
