Qld government denies abortion law flaw

The Queensland government has denied any flaw in Queensland's criminal code which
only offers legal protection for surgical abortions.
Women rallied across Australia on Saturday in support of a young Queensland couple
facing trial over a home abortion.
Tegan Simone Leach, 20, and her partner, Sergie Brennan, 22, were in 2009 committed
to stand trial for allegedly importing abortion drugs from the Ukraine to terminate
a pregnancy.
Ms Leach is charged with procuring an abortion and could face seven years in jail if
convicted.
Mr Brennan is charged with supplying drugs to procure an abortion and could be
sentenced to three years' jail if convicted.
The case, scheduled to begin on October 12 in the Cairns District Court, is
Queensland's first abortion trial in 24 years.
Doctors have claimed the case reveals a flaw in Queensland's criminal code which
offers legal protection for surgical abortions only, and have refused to offer the
abortion drug RU486 since the legal ambiguity was revealed, fearing prosecution.
A spokeswoman for Deputy Premier and Health Minister Paul Lucas said on Sunday that
the Queensland parliament had last year passed the Criminal Code (Medical Treatment)
Bill which ensured that Queensland doctors were allowed the same defence for medical
treatments as they are currently for surgical operations.
The government had issued a press statement to coincide with the legislative change
in September, the spokeswoman said.
The relevant part stated: "Section 282 applies to a person who performs in good
faith and with reasonable care and skill a surgical operation upon a patient for the
patient's benefit or upon an unborn child for the preservation of the mother's life.

"The defence will be amended by mirroring the 'performance of a surgical operation'
with the concept of 'providing medical treatment'.
"The bill also introduces an amendment to the Criminal Code that clarifies that a
patient does not commit an offence by self-administering a treatment in compliance
with a prescription surgical operations."