A NSW bill seeks to create a new offence under the Crimes Act for causing serious harm to, or the destruction of, a child in utero.
The bill was originally introduced by Christian Democratic Party MP Fred Nile and dubbed 'Zoe's Law' in honour of the unborn child killed when her mother was hit by an allegedly drug-affected driver. Dismayed at the lack of legal recognition for their daughter's death, Zoe's parents have since campaigned for a change in the law, stating that: 'There has to be a specific law that recognises the viability of life and protects an unborn child.'
But the NSW bill has met with opposition from an unexpected quarter, with some feminist and pro-choice groups concerned that Zoe's Law is the start of a slippery slope toward more restrictive abortion laws.
The bill specifically states that it does not apply 'to anything done in the course of a medical procedure', or 'to anything done by or with the consent of the mother of the child in utero', and applies only from 20 weeks gestation. Indeed, Zoe's mother is herself pro-choice and worked with her local MP Chris Spence to ensure that a redrafted bill would not impinge on legal access to abortion. But the bill nonetheless worries abortion supporters because its premise cuts to the heart of the moral and philosophical contention over abortion.
Some people in our society believe that a foetus is a human being endowed with moral rights and deserving of the same legal protection afforded all other members of our species. Many people do not share this belief, though it is typically only in the vexed context of the abortion debate that this profound disagreement comes to the fore.
We have learned, as a society, to put the abortion issue to one side. Taking a cue from America, we prefer to let it remain a 'private' matter. As a 2004 survey of Australian attitudes to abortion suggested, most Australians support legal access to abortion even when they are ambivalent or uncomfortable with it in moral terms. The common refrain of 'personally opposed' but not willing to impose one's beliefs on others rings true for many Australians, while 'Don't like abortion? Don't have one!' neatly summarises the status quo for many others.
But the philosophical wing of the pro-life movement maintains that this awkward détente cannot endure forever, that we either respect the lives of all human beings equally,