Even though we have a woman as Premier and a gender-balanced Cabinet, Queensland's Labor Government has so far taken no action on abortion law reform. It has taken an Independent MP, Rob Pyne, to introduce a Private Member's Bill today for the decriminalisation of abortion in Queensland. Mr Pyne is the Member for Cairns, where in 2010 police charged a young couple for using the abortion drug RU486 and took them to Court. Abortion should be a matter for a woman and her doctor, not for the law courts and police. Nearly one in three women in Australia will have an abortion over their lifetimes and they must not be made to feel like criminals for making their own decisions about their own bodies.

While Queensland's abortion laws are the nation's worst, they're closely followed by New South Wales' laws where abortion is still considered a crime, although in fewer circumstances than in Queensland. My colleague Mehreen Faruqi, NSW Greens MP, is doing a stellar job in New South Wales advocating for change. The pro-choice movement is not only fighting for the decriminalisation of abortion but also for improved access. Across Australia, abortions can be expensive and hard to access, especially in regional areas. For example in Western Australia, all public and private services are in Perth, leaving extremely limited access outside the capital city of this massive state.

In Queensland, where a doctor needs to state a woman's mental or physical health would be harmed by going ahead with a pregnancy in order for abortion to be legal, 99 per cent of abortions are carried out through the private health system – where they can cost between $500 and $1000. Decriminalising abortion would make the process less expensive, as doctors wouldn't have to go through so much paperwork to protect themselves from being sued for simply for giving women the right to exercise control over their own bodies. While all States and Territories need to improve access to abortion, Queensland and New South Wales are shameful laggards when it comes to updating their laws in line with modern values that trust and empower women to make decisions about their own bodies. More than 80 per cent of Australians believe a woman should have the right to choose whether or not she has an abortion. Sadly, I fear it won't be 80 per cent of Queensland's Parliament that votes for Mr Pyne's bill to decriminalise abortion.

I have written to every member of the Queensland Parliament multiple times to seek their position on the decriminalisation of abortion. While I haven't received a high rate of replies (14 out of 89), I've received more supportive ones than negative replies. However, I imagine those that disagree with me would be less likely to reply. Nonetheless, the decriminalisation bill certainly has a chance of passing, and it must. To make it happen, we need Labor to bind their Members to vote in support of the bill and we need as many Liberal National Members as possible to use their conscience vote in support of the bill. That is going to take a lot of community campaigning like the inspiring advocacy on show at this morning's rally.

While most at the rally today were inspiring young women, there was also a wonderful older couple, Beryl and John, there to support women's rights to choose. Beryl Holmes has been a powerful advocate for choice in Queensland for decades. Young or old, man or woman, we need everyone who supports women making their own decisions about their bodies to get behind this bill to finally bring Queensland into the 21st century on women's rights. To call your state Member of Parliament and voice your support for the decriminalisation of abortion go to: https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/members/current/list Qld Senator Larissa Waters is the Australian Greens Deputy Leader and spokesperson for women.