Politics

#ArrestUs: People Who Have Had Abortions In NSW Are Sharing Their Stories To Call For Change

"We have all had abortions under NSW laws which define abortion as a crime. We want to be the last."

by Sam Langford  6 August 2019
abortion

Want more Junkee in your life? Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram and Facebook so you always know where to find us.

Today, NSW Parliament will debate a bill that could finally decriminalise abortion in the state, after 119 long years. In the lead-up to the debate, people who have had an abortion in NSW are stepping forward to share their stories using the hashtag #ArrestUs, daring opponents of the bill to actually view them with compassion.

The hashtag was kicked off by a tweet posted yesterday by Emily Mayo, who pointed out that it has been close to 50 years since a group of women took out a newspaper ad to make a similar protest. Overnight, her tweet has grown into a movement, with more than 50 women adding their names to a statement calling for abortion to be decriminalised once and for all.

“In the early 1970s eighty women declared themselves to be criminals in a national newspaper, taking out an advertisement as a provocation in the campaign to decriminalise abortion,” the #ArrestUs statement reads.

“Fifty years on and abortion is still technically a crime in NSW. A bill to be debated in NSW Parliament this week seeks to finally change that. Should it pass women in NSW will finally have the freedom to make our reproductive health choices without facing the challenges presented because abortion is criminalised.”

Related
NSW Could Decriminalise Abortion In The Next Few Weeks. Here's What You Need To Know.

“The women who took out the advert in the 1970s did it because they could. They had the privilege to be able to speak up and they believed they had a responsibility to do so. And so it is time again, for those of us who can stand up and speak out to do so. One last time.”

“We, more than fifty women and fifty long years since that bold action of the 1970s, are making this statement: We are diverse women. Our abortion experiences are varied. We have had abortions decades ago and very recently. We have all had abortions under NSW laws which define abortion as a crime. We want to be the last.”

“We say: Arrest us. Abortion is still a crime in NSW. Now is the time for it to change.”

More and more people are adding their names to the statement via Twitter, sharing their stories using the #ArrestUs hashtag. It’s a powerful look at what the criminalisation of abortion has meant for women and other people seeking abortions in NSW over time.

There’s a common theme in the stories: that the times when these women have needed abortions have been extraordinarily difficult times, made even more difficult by the state. These women are putting their stories out there in the hope that other women won’t have such a difficult time in future.

NSW Parliament will debate the abortion decriminalisation bill from midday today. You can read and share the #ArrestUs statement below.