12 November, 2025
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (17:56): I rise to speak on the Termination of Pregnancy (Restriction on Terminations after 22 Weeks and 6 Days) Amendment Bill on behalf of the Greens and indicate my strong opposition to the bill. I want to commend the Hon. Jing Lee on her thoughtful contribution, one that was grounded in her faith and also on the medical evidence that she referenced; I commend her on that speech.
Access to abortion is fundamental to the right to health care: this is a fundamental view of the Greens. I must say I speak on this matter with some considerable reluctance. I am really disappointed that this matter has been put back on this parliament's agenda once again. Back when I first became involved in student activism more than 20 years ago, I was a big believer in the idea of autonomous organising. Fundamental to that philosophy was the idea that women should be the people who speak on these matters and make decisions about their own bodies, not men. One of the things that does really trouble me about this debate is that so often we hear men lecturing women about what they should do with their bodies, and I totally disagree with that.
The right to access abortion as part of health care is a fundamental philosophy for the Greens. I recognise that the former Marshall Liberal government moved abortion laws out of the criminal law and grounded them within a health framework, and that was the right thing to do. I want to acknowledge the leadership of my crossbench colleague the Hon. Tammy Franks, who did a huge amount of work to make that happen, and also of course the Hon. Michelle Lensink.
The decision around abortion should be one that a woman is able to take in consultation with her doctor. This should be a matter for GPs, not MPs. I hope that we will finally see an end to this bill being brought before this chamber and all the division that causes. I might also make a few remarks about the tenor of the debate. I have been deeply troubled by some of the tactics that have been adopted by the proponents of this bill and its previous iteration.
Some of the intimidatory tactics that have been adopted on social media have sought to vilify and demean members of parliament and create a space where people feel that they cannot express their views. I think that is a real shame and it brings us into the territory that we have seen in other jurisdictions around the world. I think it is appalling that members of this chamber have been vilified as members of the 'baby killers club', for instance; I think that is appalling.
It is also appalling that just today there have been people offering to play bingo and trivialising our speeches in this chamber—indeed, I think debasing the parliament itself. This sort of thing is not the direction we should be taking in our politics here in South Australia. We should be better than that, and I really urge the proponents of this bill outside of this chamber who are adopting those tactics to move away from that.
The final point I will make is that it is always a source of frustration to me and the Greens that matters of women's reproductive rights, and indeed LGBTI rights, are always matters of conscience for the two major political parties yet they bind on nearly everything else. Why is it that we have a political system where the major parties do not allow a conscience vote on whether or not you send someone to war or whether or not children are locked behind razor wire as part of our immigration detention system, yet women's reproductive rights are seen as a luxury opt-in item, where every member can form an independent view? That is a real shame, and I look forward to the day when these are matters of platform for the two major political parties.
With that, I indicate my strong opposition to this bill. I hope we finally see an end to this matter, and that women can feel secure in the knowledge that their reproductive rights are going to be protected in South Australia.