Reproductive Health (Access to Terminations) Act 2013

Reproductive Health (Access to Terminations) Act 2013
Parliament of Tasmania
Long title An Act to regulate the termination of pregnancies by medical practitioners and to amend the Criminal Code Act 1924 and the Guardianship and Administration Act 1995
Royal assent	19 December 2013
Commenced	12 February 2014
Legislative history
Bill citation	Bill 24 of 2013
First reading	11 April 2013
Second reading	16 April 2013
Third reading	16 April 2013
First reading	17 April 2013
Second reading	19 November 2013
Third reading	21 November 2013
Status: Current legislation

The Reproductive Health (Access to Terminations) Act 2013 is an act of the Parliament of Tasmania relating to the provision of abortion.

Background

Until 2013, the Criminal Code Act 1924 prohibited the "unlawful termination". ^[1]

Provisions

Abortion is transferred to become a health matter. ^[2]

Doctors are generally allowed to not participate in an abortion but the act does impose what is described as an "obligation to refer" to a doctor without conscientious objection. ^[2] The right to conscientious objection does not apply to cases where a patient is at risk of death or serious injury. ^[3]

The legislation establishes buffer zones with a radius of 150 metres around facilities providing abortion. ^[4] The act allows for a penalty of an imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months and/or a fine of up to and including 75 penalty units. ^[5]

References

1. de Costa, Caroline; Douglas, Heather (30 September 2015). "Explainer: is abortion legal in Australia?". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 4 December 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
2. Sifris, Ronli (1 June 2015). "Tasmania's Reproductive Health (Access to Terminations) Act 2013: An analysis of conscientious objection to abortion and the "obligation to refer"". Journal of Law and Medicine. 22 (4): 900–914. ISSN   1320-159X. PMID   26349386.
3. Dawson, Angela (28 February 2018). "FactCheck: do women in Tasmania have access to safe abortions?". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
4. Wilson, Beth (4 June 2015). "Abortion is legal but we still shame women". The Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
5. Sifris, Ronli; Penovic, Tania; Henckels, Caroline (1 September 2020). "Advancing Reproductive Rights through Legal Reform: The Example of Abortion Clinic Safe Access Zones". University of New South Wales Law Journal. 43 (3). doi:10.53637/QXAY4756.