What is an abortion? Abortion can be defined as the induced termination of a pregnancy through the removal of an embryo or foetus from a female’s uterus, thereby resulting in the death of an embryo or foetus (Moore 2007, 3). Abortions can be procured through either medical or surgical means. NOTE:  An embryo is a human offspring in the first eight weeks from conception.  A foetus is a human offspring from eight weeks of age to birth.

The regulation of abortion through legislation is the responsibility of Australian states and territories which has resulted in varied and often confusing abortion legislation in Australia (Petersen 2005, 142).

It was estimated that the number of abortions in Australia in 2003 was 84, 218 with the majority of abortions occurring for females aged between 20 to 24 years old (Grayson, Hargreaves and Sullivan 2005).

TASK: Using the newspaper article ‘Tegan Simone Leach charged with aborting foetus herself’ and after viewing the video clip ‘Couple not guilty of illegal abortion charges’, answer the questions on the worksheet ‘A Controversial Queensland Case’. m526Ls&feature=relmfu