The controversial foetal rights bill known as Zoe’s Law could be back on the table in the upper house after sitting dormant in the Legislative Council for almost a year.
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Earlier this year the private member’s bill – due to lapse next month – failed to secure a majority of votes.
But the recent death of an unborn baby has renewed calls for the bill be debated in Parliament again.
Jacqueline Sparks was weeks away from giving birth to her first child in September last year when she was hit by a drug-affected driver in Sydney.
The crash ruptured Ms Sparks’ uterus and killed her baby girl Mia. Under Zoe’s Law, Mia would have been recognised as a person in court.
The foetal rights bill was prompted after Maitland woman Brodie Donegan lost her baby girl Zoe when she was hit by a car in 2009 when she was 32 weeks pregnant.
The bill, for the first time in Australia, recognises the crime of grievous bodily harm against an unborn child, post-20 weeks gestation, as a person.
Late last year the bill was passed through the lower house of the NSW Parliament after a conscience vote was carried at 63 to 26.
Premier Mike Baird has now called for the leader of the upper house to have the bill debated before the end of the year.
However, Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi said the bill would further threaten women’s right to choose.
“It is really important that we recognise the deep tragedy of a woman’s loss during pregnancy in an accident, however this new bill must be seen for what it is – an attempt to infringe on the rights of women,” Dr Faruqi said.
“This attempt to grant the foetus personhood status echoes the sweeping conservative right wing politics in the US and has no place in Australia.”
