The Australian couple charged with procuring an abortion have been acquitted by a jury. As for why, we'll never know. But the judge gave them a perfect excuse to acquit with this:
Judge Everson said if the jurors were not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the drugs supplied by Mr Brennan and taken by Ms Leach were “noxious”, both defendants should be acquitted.(Emphasis added).He defined noxious as a substance that was harmful or injurious to the health or physical wellbeing of the person taking it.
Which means that guilt comes down to the effect on the mother, not the foetus.
But regardless of the reason for acquittal, this barbaric episode in Queensland's legal history is over. And now hopefully the state legislature will do what it ought to have done in the first place, and reform the law to decriminalise abortion.
