Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts (1) In this section
—
guardian , in relation to a person who is under 18
years of age, means a person who at law has parental responsibility, as
defined in the Family Court Act 1997 section 68, for the person.
(2) This section
applies if —
(a) a
registered health practitioner proposes to perform an abortion under this
Division on a person (the patient ) who is under 18 years of age; and
(b) the
registered health practitioner considers —
(i)
that the patient does not have the capacity to consent,
on their own behalf, to the abortion being performed on them because the
patient has not achieved a sufficient understanding and intelligence to enable
them to understand fully what is proposed; or
(ii)
that it is not possible to ascertain whether the patient
has the capacity to consent, on their own behalf, to the abortion being
performed on them;
and
(c) the
patient agrees to a parent or guardian of the patient participating in the
decision-making as to whether the abortion is performed on the patient by the
registered health practitioner.
(3) If this section
applies —
(a) the
parent or guardian referred to in subsection (2)(c) may consent or refuse
consent to the performance of the abortion on the patient by the registered
health practitioner; and
(b) to
the extent that the common law would require the performance of the abortion
on the patient by the registered health practitioner to be authorised by a
court, that requirement does not apply.
(4) This section does
not affect the inherent jurisdiction of the Supreme Court or the jurisdiction
of the Family Court of Western Australia.
[Section 202MM inserted: No. 20 of 2023 s. 8.]
[Heading inserted: No. 20 of 2023 s. 8.]