Judge Levine Abortion
An issue regarding such provisions is the consideration of what falls under unlawful, with no clear-cut definition offered by the statute. Nonetheless, NSW common law has provided a general idea of what is “unlawful”. In R v Wald, its was held by Judge Levine that an abortion should be regarded as lawful if on reasonable grounds, an honest belief existed by the doctor that ‘the operation was necessary to preserve the woman involved from serious danger to her life or physical or mental health which the continuance of the pregnancy would entail.” Furthermore, mental health is also taken into account in respect to lawful abortion “the effects of economic or social stress that may be pertaining to the time.”