Abortions Legalized in Victoria

Heck I didn’t even know abortions were illegal in Victoria in the first place:

ABORTION in Victoria has been decriminalised with a third and final vote passed in parliament’s upper house tonight, 23 votes to 17.

The new legislation removes abortion as an offence under the state’s Crimes Act. [AAP]

Since I know nothing about abortion in Australia I decided to look it up and see how the country handles the sensitive issue of abortion and here is what I found:

Abortion in Australia remains a subject of state law rather than national law. The grounds on which abortion is permitted in Australia vary from state to state. In every state, abortion is legal to protect the life and health of the woman, though each state has a different definition.

There is no law anywhere in Australia that requires the notification or consent of a woman’s partner. There is also no enforced waiting period for an abortion. Except in Western Australia, a minor does not require parental consent or notification (see discussion at the Gillick article, which was imported into Australian law by the High Court in 1992).  [Wikipedia]

State-by-state legality of abortion in Australia. Legal on request Legal for maternal life, rape, health, fetal defects, mental health, economic factors, and/or social factors Legal for maternal life, rape, health, fetal defects, and/or mental health Legal for maternal life, health, and/or mental health

Melbourne which makes up most of the population of Victoria is a fairly liberal city, which only further surprises me that abortions were illegal here for things other then maternal life or health reasons before this recent change in legislation.

For those who don’t know much about Australia, the issue of abortion is not a big issue here.  I have never once even had one conversation about it with anyone here in Australia the whole time I have been here.  Has anyone else discussed this issue with Australians because I sure haven’t?