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The Australian Parliament on Thursday approved a bill to strip regulatory control of an abortion pill from the country's anti-abortion health minister - a move expected to make the drug available for use in Australia.
The House of Representatives approved the measure after a show of voices indicated overwhelming support for the bill. No official vote count was taken.
The measure gives regulatory authority over an abortion pill called mifepristone - also known as RU-486 - to the country's main drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
In 1996, Parliament voted to place control of RU-486 with the federal health minister. Since 2003, that position has been held by Tony Abbott, a Roman Catholic who opposes abortion and once warned of an "epidemic" of abortions in Australia.
Last week, the Senate voted 45 to 28 to give regulatory control over RU-486 back to the TGA, a government body of scientists and doctors that regulates all other drugs in Australia.
A vote expected on Thursday from the lower house was expected to clear the way for the drug's approval in Australia.
"It is a winner for Australian women and their families and also a winner for the House of Representatives," Senator Lyn Allison, one of the bill's co-authors, said in a statement.
"I'm glad reason has triumphed over spin," she said. "The Therapeutic Goods Administration is clearly best placed to determine the safety of RU-486."
Abortion in Australia is regulated by individual states and has been legal for 30 years. The procedure is funded by Australia's public health system and there is little debate among lawmakers over whether it should remain legal.
Nevertheless, the debate over RU-486 generated highly emotional arguments across the political spectrum, with many lawmakers telling of their own personal experiences with abortion.
Last week, Allison made headlines by revealing in a Senate speech that she had once had an abortion.
"An estimated one in three women have had an abortion - and I am one of those," Allison told Parliament.
Late Wednesday, one of Prime Minister John Howard's most senior ministers, Treasurer Peter Costello, described how 18 years ago he faced the choice of whether to allow doctors to abort his unborn child as his pregnant wife lay unconscious in the hospital.
The House of Representatives approved the measure after a show of voices indicated overwhelming support for the bill. No official vote count was taken.
The measure gives regulatory authority over an abortion pill called mifepristone - also known as RU-486 - to the country's main drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
In 1996, Parliament voted to place control of RU-486 with the federal health minister. Since 2003, that position has been held by Tony Abbott, a Roman Catholic who opposes abortion and once warned of an "epidemic" of abortions in Australia.
Last week, the Senate voted 45 to 28 to give regulatory control over RU-486 back to the TGA, a government body of scientists and doctors that regulates all other drugs in Australia.
A vote expected on Thursday from the lower house was expected to clear the way for the drug's approval in Australia.
"It is a winner for Australian women and their families and also a winner for the House of Representatives," Senator Lyn Allison, one of the bill's co-authors, said in a statement.
"I'm glad reason has triumphed over spin," she said. "The Therapeutic Goods Administration is clearly best placed to determine the safety of RU-486."
Abortion in Australia is regulated by individual states and has been legal for 30 years. The procedure is funded by Australia's public health system and there is little debate among lawmakers over whether it should remain legal.
Nevertheless, the debate over RU-486 generated highly emotional arguments across the political spectrum, with many lawmakers telling of their own personal experiences with abortion.
Last week, Allison made headlines by revealing in a Senate speech that she had once had an abortion.
"An estimated one in three women have had an abortion - and I am one of those," Allison told Parliament.
Late Wednesday, one of Prime Minister John Howard's most senior ministers, Treasurer Peter Costello, described how 18 years ago he faced the choice of whether to allow doctors to abort his unborn child as his pregnant wife lay unconscious in the hospital.
posted by Susanna Duffy @ 8:04 AM
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