The Catholic sector will be exempt from federal Labor's plans to tie hospital funding to the provision of abortion services.

It comes as Labor walked back from its "expectation" that all public hospitals be consistently required to offer access to abortions to qualify for federal money under a renewed funding agreement.

Labor's has stepped back from its abortion plans. Credit:Jessica Shapiro

Announcing the opposition's new women's health policy on Wednesday, health spokeswoman Catherine King and deputy leader Tanya Plibersek said a new funding agreement between a Labor government and the states and territories would "expect that termination services will be provided consistently in public hospitals".

"This is critical to end the patchwork of service provision in Australia," a joint statement said.