SA might soon follow NSW in updating its abortion laws, following a major report calling for the practice to be decriminalised in the state.

The SA Law Reform Institute says abortion “should be treated as a health issue rather than a criminal law matter”, in its report released in December to the SA Attorney General.

It recommends that abortion is legalised at all gestational stages provided that the woman consents and the procedure is performed by an appropriate health practitioner, mirroring the ACT law.

But the institute has also put forward an alternative model, whereby if a woman requests an abortion after 24 weeks’ gestation, that an abortion may be undertaken once the first doctor has consulted with at least one other doctor and both doctors agree that an abortion is medically appropriate.