Women dressed as handmaids have protested on the steps of the South Australian parliament before a vote on a bill preventing termination of pregnancies from 27 weeks and six days. or signup to continue reading Liberal MP Ben Hood has introduced a private member's bill in the Legislative Council to amend the changes to SA's abortion laws, which passed parliament on a conscience vote in 2021 under the former Marshall Liberal government. MPs are due to vote on the bill on Wednesday night, with both the Liberals and Labor allowing their MPs a conscience vote.
The controversial proposal has drawn criticism from opponents inside and outside parliament, and it has been labelled an "extreme right-wing culture war bill" by SA Health Minister Chris Picton. The South Australian Abortion Action Coalition staged a demonstration against the bill outside parliament on Wednesday that attracted about 100 chanting protesters. It included eight women dressed as handmaids, inspired by Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale.
The long red dresses and white bonnets symbolised the dystopian society depicted by Atwood in which women's reproductive lives are controlled by the state of Gilead, the coalition said. Coalition co-convenor Brigid Coombe said abortion care always needed to be addressed as healthcare. "Legislating circumstances around how people's healthcare should be provided shows an enormous misunderstanding of how healthcare is provided," she said.
"Imposing a violent method of contr.