Labor to introduce legislation to decriminalise abortion in Queensland

The move comes in the wake of the release of a Queensland Law Reform Commission report recommending changes to the current situation, where abortion remains in the Criminal Code.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it was about bringing Queensland into the 21st century.

"This is a very proud day for me to be able to stand here to say that this is a health issue for a woman, it is not for me to tell another woman what to do when she is confronted by these health issues,'' she said.

"It is a matter between her and her doctor.

"For so long, this archaic law has sat on our statute books."

Under the proposed changes, there would be full decriminalisation of abortion, with doctors, midwives, nurse or pharmacist able to assist in the termination of a pregnancy up to 22 weeks' gestation. Women would not be required to provide a reason.

After that gestation, a doctor would need to consult with a second doctor to receive approval.

Doctors will be allowed to conscientiously object but they would be required to refer a patient to a medical practitioner who would perform the procedure.

But Health Minister Steven Miles said there would not be a mandated time limit for that referral to occur and doctors who refused would not face criminal charges, but rather be referred to professional standards bodies.

It will also include exclusion zones of 150 metres around clinics, to prevent women and staff from being traumatised by protesters.

People would be banned from filming people entering or leaving clinics or engaging in conduct which might stop people from performing or undergoing a termination.

Breaching safe zones would attract fines of up to $2611 or one year in jail, while unqualified people who sought to perform or assist in an abortion - other than the woman - would be sentenced to up to seven years in jail.

Mr Miles said doctors and health care professionals should not have to worry if they were committing a crime by delivering a health service.

"They also should not have to run the gauntlet of protesters and intimidation just to go to and from their place of work, that's what the safe access zones will provide," he said.

A bill will be introduced into Parliament in August, before being referred to a parliamentary committee and then debated the week of October 16.

Labor will allow a conscience vote but LNP  leader Deb Frecklington earlier said she needed to see the details of the proposal first.

However, Ms Frecklington said in the past, as a matter of principle, LNP politicians had been granted a conscience vote on issues of "beginning and end of life".

"So that would appear to be appropriate but what I would say is we have seen in the last Parliament a piece of legislation that was on this topic that was completely abhorrent, that went to full-term abortion," she said.

Asked if she thought the bill would have the numbers to pass if the LNP allowed a conscience vote, Deputy Premier Jackie Trad said: "I think we are as close as we ever have been to decriminalising abortion in Queensland."

"Ensuring that every single member of the Queensland Parliament has the right to exercise their conscience on this matter is critical to whether this legislation gets up," she said.

After the announcement, Ms Frecklington said she would not be making any knee-jerk reactive comments on the proposal.

The announcement was welcomed by the Australian Medical Association of Queensland.

In June, NSW - where abortion also remained a crime - passed laws imposing 150-metre safe access zones around clinics and hospitals that provided terminations.

If the Queensland Parliament votes to decriminalise abortion, it will leave NSW as the only Australia state with abortion on the criminal code.