i think australia's legal decisions have been interesting.
from Wikipediea which summarises it as well as any
A legal precedent concerning the legality of abortion was set in Australia in 1969, by the Menhennitt ruling in the Victorian Supreme Court case R v Davidson which held that abortion was lawfully justified if "necessary to preserve the physical or mental health of the woman concerned, provided that the danger involved in the abortion did not outweigh the danger which the abortion was designed to prevent." Since then, court rulings and legislative reform have helped deliver a medical framework for abortion in Australia; the Menhennitt ruling was later largely adopted by courts in New South Wales and Queensland, and was influential in some other states. Over time this has come to be broadly defined so as to include the mental health of the woman, to which unwanted pregnancy is interpreted as clinically injurious.
n the mid-1990s the conservative Howard government was in power in Australia, with conservative independent Tasmanian Senator Brian Harradine holding the balance of power in the Senate. Howard brokered a deal with Harradine to ensure his support for proposed bills, including the privatisation of national telecommunications provider Telecom. In return, Harradine received support for introducing restrictions on abortion. As a result, unlike other medications, abortifacient drugs were made to require approval from the Minister for Health before they could be assessed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). As TGA assessment is a requirement for drugs to be sold in Australia, this created a ministerial veto. Accordingly, the abortifacient RU-486, which was widely used overseas, was banned in Australia. The continued refusal by Tony Abbott, then Minister for Health, to allow abortifacients into Australia led to a private member's bill being introduced in late 2005 to transfer the approval back to the TGA. The bill was made law in 2006. From 2006 to 2012, the drug was still not registered by the TGA, and medical practitioners needed special status from the TGA in order to prescribe it; even after registration its use still has special conditions and restrictions.
this case is of particular interest. to save the lives of the unborn fetus
The first serious attack and murder by an anti-abortion activist occurred in 2001, carried out by Peter Knight. Knight forced his way into a Melbourne clinic carrying a rifle, kerosene, and equipment to lock the doors of the clinic. He was intending to murder all patients and staff in the building, though was overpowered after shooting and killing a security guard.
america is particularly weird. they defend the right to carry arms ( lots of them) and will not pass laws to limit guns - clearly designed to kill because they see it as a right (and presumably therefore the right to use one in self defense but the number of states that think it important to save an unformed, non viable life is staggering go figure
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