224
Attempts to procure abortion
Any
person who, with intent to procure the miscarriage of a woman, whether she is
or is not with child, unlawfully administers to her or causes her to take any
poison or other noxious thing, or uses any force of any kind, or uses any other
means whatever, is guilty of a crime, and is liable to imprisonment for 14
years.
225
The like by women with child
Any
woman who, with intent to procure her own miscarriage, whether she is or is not
with child, unlawfully administers to herself any poison or other noxious
thing, or uses any force of any kind, or uses any other means whatever, or
permits any such thing or means to be administered or used to her, is guilty of
a crime, and is liable to imprisonment for 7 years.
226
Supplying drugs or instruments to procure abortion
Any person who unlawfully supplies to or procures for any person anything
whatever, knowing that it is intended to be unlawfully used to procure the
miscarriage of a woman, whether she is or is not with child, is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to
imprisonment for 3 years.
*
* *
282
Surgical operations and medical treatment
(1) A person is not criminally responsible for performing or providing, in good faith and with reasonable care and skill, a surgical operation on or medical treatment of—
(a) a person or an unborn child for the patient's benefit; or
(b) a person or an unborn child to preserve the mother's life;
if performing the operation or providing the medical treatment is reasonable, having regard to the patient's state at the time and to all the circumstances of the case.
(2) If the administration by a health professional of a substance to a patient would be lawful under this section, the health professional may lawfully direct or advise another person, whether the patient or another person, to administer the substance to the patient or procure or supply the substance for that purpose.
(3) It is lawful for a person acting under the lawful direction or advice, or in the reasonable belief that the advice or direction was lawful, to administer the substance, or supply or procure the substance, in accordance with the direction or advice.
(4) In this section—
health professional has the same meaning as in the Health Services Act 1991, section 60.
medical treatment, for subsection (1)(a), does not include medical treatment intended to adversely affect an unborn child.
patient means the person or unborn child on whom the surgical operation is performed or of whom the medical treatment is provided.
surgical operation, for subsection (1)(a), does not include a surgical operation intended to adversely affect an unborn child.
*
* *
292
When a child becomes a human being
A child becomes a person capable of being killed when it has completely
proceeded in a living state from the body of its mother, whether it has
breathed or not, and whether it has an independent
circulation or not, and whether the navel-string is severed or not.
*
* *
294
Death by acts done at childbirth
When a child dies in consequence of an act done or omitted to be done by any
person before or during its birth, the person who did or omitted to do such act
is deemed to have killed the child.
* * *
313
Killing unborn child
(1)
Any person who, when a female is about to be delivered of a child, prevents
the child from being born alive by any act or omission of such a nature that,
if the child had been born alive and had then died, the person would be deemed
to have unlawfully killed the child, is guilty of a crime, and is liable to
imprisonment for life.
(2)
Any person who unlawfully assaults a female pregnant with a child and destroys
the life of, or does grievous bodily harm to, or transmits a serious disease
to, the child before its birth, commits a crime.
Maximum penalty—imprisonment for life.
NOTE:
Under Queensland case law the above provisions have
been interpreted to allow the performance of a legal abortion if a medical
practitioner has an honest belief on reasonable grounds that the abortion
is necessary to preserve the woman from a serious danger to her life or
physical or mental health not being merely the normal dangers of pregnancy and
childbirth which the continuance of pregnancy would entail and, in the
circumstances, it is not out of proportion to the danger to be averted.