Labor Promises Free Abortions, Pushes to Decriminalise Procedure in Federal Election Pitch

The Culture of Death pushing forward in Australia.

From ABC News (Australia)

Taxpayer-funded abortions will be offered in public hospitals as part of an election pledge to be outlined by Labor today.

Key points:

• Late-term abortions could also be publicly funded in line with state and territory laws
• An abortion clinic would be built in Tasmania to adjoin a public hospital under the plan
• Free services are unlikely to increase abortion rates, the NSW Family Planning Alliance says

Late-term abortions could also be publicly funded — in line with what is legal in each state and territory.

Opposition spokeswoman for Women Tanya Plibersek said a federal Labor government would require public hospitals to offer termination services as part of their Commonwealth funding arrangement.

However, abortion is still illegal in New South Wales and South Australia unless doctors find the woman or foetus is at risk.

As abortion laws are made by the state government, Labor will seek to have the New South Wales Government decriminalise the procedure, but will be powerless to force public hospitals to provide the service unless it is legalised.

Abortion is legal in Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and the ACT.

In Victoria, a woman can choose to have an abortion until she is 24 weeks pregnant and in Western Australia, termination is legal within the first 20 weeks.

It is estimated between a quarter to a third of Australian women will choose to have an abortion at some point in their lives.

A federal Labor government would also commit to building an abortion clinic in Tasmania to adjoin a public hospital.

Despite the procedure being legal in Tasmania since 2013, there are no local facilities.

Ms Plibersek said it was not fair that women living in Tasmania or regional areas were being forced to travel long distances to terminate a pregnancy, as it increased the emotional and financial burden.

"We wouldn't accept someone having to travel that far for a hip replacement or a broken bone. Women deserve better," she said.

Abortion rates unlikely to increase due to free services

The NSW Family Planning Alliance said most abortions cost around $400-$500, which was out of reach for some.

"We speak to many women who find it very challenging to find the money," spokeswoman Dr Deborah Bateson said.

"If you couple that with travel costs and accommodation costs we really need to look at how we can get rid of these inequalities."

Dr Bateson said the rate of abortion in Australia was dropping and free services were unlikely to see it increase.

She said a variety of factors, including more effective contraception, was reducing the need to terminate a pregnancy.

Last year an ABC investigation found that Australia had been following international trends and many of the available statistics pointed to a marked reduction in terminations across the country to a rate as low as 13.5 per 1,000 women.

Labor said it would also seek to boost the uptake of long-term contraceptives, including the commonly used Implanon hormonal implant and Mirena intra-uterine device, as part of a $9 million Women's Reproductive Health Package.

It said the long-acting removable contraceptives were over 99 per cent effective, but only one in 10 Australian women used them in contrast to one in three women in the US and UK.

The party also pledged to investigate whether GPs should be allowed to provide patients with a three-year prescription for the contraceptive pill to prevent repeated visits.