Choice Ireland

In Australia on Friday, in a case that has ignited a fierce debate about abortion rights, a magistrate in the Queensland city of Cairns ordered a 19-year-old woman and her 21-year-old boyfriend to stand trial on charges of procuring an abortion and supplying drugs to do so. See story from The Australian newspaper below or visit
http://www.prochoiceqld.org.au/ for more info

September 11, 2009
Article from: Australian Associated Press

A QUEENSLAND woman charged with organising her own home abortion has been committed to stand trial.
Cairns magistrate Sandra Pearson today ordered Tegan Simone Leach, 19, face trial on a charge of procuring an abortion in Cairns District Court on a date to be fixed.

Her boyfriend, Sergie Brennan, 21, was also committed to stand trial on a charge of supplying drugs to procure an abortion.

The charge of procuring an abortion carries a maximum penalty of seven years in jail.

The court last week heard police found empty pharmaceutical blister packets alleged to have contained the contraband drugs along with doctor's instructions written in Ukrainian during a search of the couple's Cairns home in relation to another matter in February.

Defence barrister Kevin McCreanor called for the charge against Ms Leach to be dropped, saying there was no evidence to prove the chemical composition of the drugs that were originally contained in the blister packets.

He also argued to the court that the section of the criminal code under which Ms Leach was charged only made it an offence to take something "noxious".

He said the drugs could not be considered noxious as they were not harmful to Ms Leach.

However, prosecutor Sergeant Peter Austin argued Ms Leach's admissions to having used the drugs to induce an abortion were sufficient for the matter to be put to trial.

The case has caused controversy in Queensland where the state Government last week rushed through Parliament changes to the law to clarify the legality of medical abortions.

Hospitals temporarily suspended drug-induced abortions pending further legal advice.

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