TASMANIA's chief medical officer has backed increased access to terminations under proposed abortion decriminalisation laws, including a return to a 24-week gestation threshold.
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Dr Craig White gave the evidence before a parliamentary committee on Bass MHA Michelle O'Byrne's private member's bill.
The bill provides a key threshold point at which two doctors must find continuing the pregnancy poses a greater risk to the woman's physical or psychological health than termination would, rather than a single doctor's referral.
That point was originally set at 24 weeks' gestation, before being wound back to 16 weeks as a concession to win parliamentary support.
Dr White said ``22 or 24 weeks would be better than 16'' as it gave women more time to consider crucial scans which came at around the 18-week mark.
Describing the 16-week provision was a ``middle ground approach'', Dr White said he also supported it as ``we'd rather have it 16 weeks than what it is at the moment''.
Ms O'Byrne, who is also the Health Minister, said there was ``no medical reason'' for choosing a 16-week threshold, but what came out of Parliament was ``something most reasonable people could agree to''.
Ms O'Byrne added she was prepared to consider amendments from the committee process or the Legislative Council ``only if it didn't weaken women's access to terminations any further''.
The Health Department supports the bill, which it says will ``improve the health and well-being of Tasmanian women by reframing terminations in a health, not a criminal context''.
``Decriminalisation will reduce stigma for women and their treating doctors - stigma is never good for people, it's always bad,'' Dr White said.
Catholic bioethicist Marcia Riordan, speaking on behalf of an interfaith committee, said that many women were ``steered towards abortion'' and weren't given genuine options, making abortion ``an obligation''.
The parliamentary committee also heard from Pregnancy Counselling and Support Service counsellors, Anti Discrimination Commissioner Robin Banks and Family Planning Tasmania.
Ms Banks said the laws particularly disadvantaged women from low socio-economic areas and in regional areas.
The committee will next meet on August 19, and is hoping to report before the end of the year.
