Key points
- Western Australia is considering an overhaul of its abortion laws.
- Unlike other states where women can choose to terminate a pregnancy up to 24 weeks gestation, in WA it is up to 20 weeks.
- Megan is one of a number of women who travelled interstate to have an abortion.
Megan Garnett terminated a pregnancy back in 2018 and Western Australian laws only added to the trauma she experienced.
She hopes the state’s abortion laws will be changed so other women do not have to go through the additional stress and grief she went through.
Travelling interstate for an abortion
Instead of accessing an abortion in her home state, where she would have had family support during a physically and mentally difficult time, she and her partner flew to Melbourne with their young son, where she had the pregnancy terminated legally.
With no support network around them, her partner stayed at their short-term accommodation to care for their son, while Ms Garnett went to appointments over the course of three days.
As well as the initial appointment and a follow-up consult, she underwent the termination without her partner.
Ms Garnett described the three-and-a-half week period between the scan and her abortion as “the most traumatic experience in my whole life”.
There was also financial stress as the couple spent about $12,000 in total - $7,500 for the procedure and the rest on flights and accommodation.
MSI Australia has welcomed the WA government opening consultation on the state's abortion laws. Credit: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
Her organisation assists women in Megan's situation and she said proposed changes to WA law could bring the west into line with other states and territories and remove the need to travel thousands of kilometres.
The 20-week scan and a ministerial panel
Ms Garnett and her partner, who live in regional WA, made the decision to have an abortion due to concerns about her unborn baby’s quality of life.
It was at her 20-week scan that Ms Garnett found out the baby had a condition which a third of babies diagnosed with in utero do not survive, and those who do, face additional health challenges.
In WA, the routine ultrasound that takes a closer look at a growing baby’s organs is done as close to the 20-week mark in a pregnancy as possible.
Congenital anomalies which can play a part in the medical viability of a pregnancy are often identified for the first time during this scan.
The 20 week scan takes a closer look at an unborn baby's organs. Source: Getty / John Fedele
Instead, a ‘ministerial panel' has to make that call.
At least two of the six medical practitioners on the panel must agree either the pregnant woman or the unborn baby has a severe medical condition that warrants an abortion.
The panel ruled against Ms Garnett being given approval to undergo an abortion.
“In my situation, I didn't feel like they considered me or my family or my circumstances, it was literally only considering what was right for the baby, in fact, that was expressed to me,” she said.
“I think that medical panel can be very person dependent.”
Not an easy decision
Ms Garnett’s unborn baby was diagnosed with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH).
CDH is where the diaphragm is malformed or has a hole in it, which allows the abdominal organs to push into the chest, hindering lung formation.
Those who survive birth and their hospital stay, experience an increased risk of medical and neuro-developmental challenges.
A Canadian study showed one in three pregnancies where CDH was diagnosed were terminated.
Ms Garnett, who already had a two-year-old son, said there were multiple factors in her decision to terminate the pregnancy.
“This was a baby that was wanted, I wanted that bubba,” she said.
Taking into account the unborn baby’s condition, her son’s needs, struggles within her relationship and the possibility that going through with the pregnancy could require the family relocate to Perth in order to meet the baby’s needs if it survived birth, she decided against going through with the pregnancy.
“If it was purely up to nature, she would have died before birth or died at birth. And if not, then we would have been forced into a world of medical intervention to keep this baby alive,” she said.
A proposal for change
The WA government last month began a four-week consultation period to consider amendments to the state's abortion laws.
The WA government is considering making changes to its laws concerning abortion. Source: Getty / demerzel21
As acknowledged in the WA government’s consultation paper, investigation and diagnosis often requires a variety of specialist visits and women and their families require time to consider their options before making a decision.
“Consequentially, a pregnancy may be more than 20 weeks of gestation before an abortion procedure can be performed,” the paper noted.
If Ms Garnett had been living in Victoria, her case would not have to be considered by a panel, a process, which she said only added to the grief and guilt she had felt at the time.
“To have a medical panel turn down and not take your viewpoint into account. I had so many mixed emotions, so much guilt, so much anger,” she said.
Ms Corbin, who is encouraging people in WA to have their say on the state's proposed reforms, said increases in gestational limits in WA were much needed.
"Less than 1 per cent of abortions occur at later pregnancy gestations, they are experienced people who face very complex situations and they need to have kind and compassionate care," she said.
For some women, the fact abortion is dealt with under the criminal code in WA can add more stress and shame to the situation.
Reforms in other parts of Australia have removed abortion offences from criminal legislation which emphasises that termination is a health issue rather than a criminal issue.
In announcing the consultation period on WA’s abortion laws, the state’s Attorney General John Quigley described the current classification of abortion laws as “inappropriate.”
"The Criminal Code currently raises the risk for medical practitioners and patients that an abortion may be considered a criminal act if certain strict legal requirements are not met” he said.
“It is entirely inappropriate that such a crucial healthcare service is dealt with in this way.”
The WA government will consider whether to abolish the ministerial panel which considers abortion procedures after 20 weeks gestation and leave the decision up to the medical practitioner.
‘Early pregnancy’ requirements and conscientious objection
Another amendment being considered is around the requirement for two medical practitioners to be involved for a woman to have an abortion before the 20-week mark.
The state’s consultation paper acknowledges the requirement can be a barrier, particularly for those living in regional areas with fewer medical practitioners.
While WA’s current abortion legislation allows for medical professionals and operators to choose to not participate in abortion procedures, it does not provide clear guidance on how conscientious objections be managed.
In practice this means women may need to visit several health practitioners before obtaining a referral for abortion care.
In Victoria and Queensland, health practitioners who conscientiously object to abortion are obliged to direct women to another willing to provide abortion care and WA is expected to incorporate similar detail into its legislation.
MSI Australia managing director Jamal Hakim said WA Health needs to modernise abortion law to reflect changing community attitudes and health system needs.
“Our MSI Perth Clinic provides quality and safe abortion care to thousands of WA residents each year, though on occasion the outdated law creates problematic barriers," he said.
closes on 17 December and a Bill is expected to be introduced to Parliament in 2023.
