On the 20th of October 2023, Elodie Aldridge was involved in a tragic car accident while being 34 weeks pregnant, resulting in severe injuries to her and the loss of her and her husband, Andrew Aldridge’s unborn son.
This loss has highlighted a critical gap in our legal system.
Currently, the law in Victoria does not classify unborn babies as human beings.
Despite their son being issued both a birth and a death certificate, he is not legally recognised as a victim in the incident because the law in Victoria does not classify unborn babies as human beings.
To address this, Andrew and Elodie have initiated a petition. Both Andrew and Elodie have been in contact with my Office and as a result, I am sponsoring this petition as their local Member of Parliament and I fully support what they have requested in this petition.
The petition was activated on Parliament of Victoria’s website on Monday 15th of January 2024, which the petition will be active for the community to sign for three months, concluding on Monday 15th of April 2024.
Following the conclusion of the petition, I will be presenting it in Parliament.
Hard copies of the petition are available at my Office at 318 Wyndham Street, Shepparton for signing or for volunteers to collect that may wish to assist in gathering signatures. My Office hours are Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm.
To sign the petition, please click on the link below, where you will be re-directed to Parliament of Victoria’s website:
Consideration of unborn babies as human beings (parliament.vic.gov.au)