Author: Mark Rankin
Rankin, Mark, 2023 Transitions and Controversies in Australian Abortion Law, 2001-2021, Flinders University, College of Business, Government and Law
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The articles in this thesis make a sustained argument for abortion law reform in Australia. The reform advocated is that the law should guarantee a woman’s right to abortion, which would be reflected in the practical reality that abortion care would be treated by the law in the same manner as any other form of health care. Some of the articles in this thesis adopt a multijurisdictional approach to critiquing the law from this perspective, while others focus on either ancillary issues to abortion law, such as safe access zones, or provide an analysis of the law in a single jurisdiction. There are two articles in this thesis that engage with the primary counterargument to a woman’s right to abortion, namely foetal personhood, in order to highlight the spurious nature of this opposing view. As the articles cover a timespan of approximately two decades, the articles also serve to track abortion law reform that has occurred during this period in all jurisdictions.
Keywords: Abortion and women's rights
Subject: Law thesis
Thesis type: Doctor of Philosophy
Completed: 2023
School: College of Business, Government and Law
Supervisor: Professor Margaret Davies