PM says debate does not ‘unite Australians’ after Labor promises to require public hospitals to provide services

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Scott Morrison has blasted Labor for raising the issue of publicly funded abortions just before an election, saying he did not believe the discussion to be “good for the country”.

The prime minister said the issue was better left to the states and territories to decide and he was “disappointed” the opposition had announced its policy “in a very politically charged context”.

On Wednesday, Labor pledged to require public hospitals to provide termination services “consistently” through commonwealth-state hospital funding agreements.

Abortion is regulated by the states and territories, which limits federal government control. Labor is attempting to navigate a potentially tricky federation issue, by linking it to funding arrangements controlled by the commonwealth.

But Morrison accused Labor of politicising the issue.

“This is a very controversial and sensitive issue and on these matters I have never sought to divide Australians on this,” he said.

“I’m a bit disappointed that it is being raised in the eve of election in a very politically charged context.

“These are matters that are dealt with by the states and territories. I have no desire to overstep what the constitutional authorities are of the commonwealth in these matters.”

“I don’t find that debate one that tends to unite Australians and I certainly am not going to engage in the political elements of that discussion, because frankly I don’t think it is good for our country.”

Labor’s policy, announced by deputy leader Tanya Plibersek on Wednesday, includes pledges for a reproductive health clinic to offer terminations in Tasmania and to push for decriminalisation in South Australia and New South Wales.

At its national conference in December Labor vowed to ensure abortion was “legal, safe, affordable and accessible” around Australia but did not adopt a platform change to bind its MPs in favour of decriminalisation.

If elected, Labor will attempt to bring down the cost of contraceptives by reviewing the Medicare rebate for long-acting removable contraceptives and asking the Therapeutic Goods Administration to develop options to improve access to contraceptive pills.

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Commonwealth-state hospital funding agreements will set out that public hospitals are expected to provide abortion services, which Plibersek said would “end the patchwork of service provision in Australia”.

Plibersek told Radio National the changes aimed to ensure women do “not have to travel six hours’ drive or interstate if they need a termination, but to be able to have that service in their local community, in their local hospital”.

“This is a very difficult choice for a woman to make, to make it even more difficult by saying you have to find thousands of dollars … to go to a private clinic or you have to go interstate is just not fair.”

Guardian Australia understands the intent of the policy is to provide a nearby public option, but abortion services may not be universal because exceptions could be made for smaller hospitals and privately-run public hospitals.

Labor would set up a Tasmanian reproductive health hub in a public hospital so Tasmanian women will no longer be forced to travel to the mainland for abortion services, she said.

Labor would also provide $9.3m for a national plan to improve access to abortion services and restore funding to the Australian Women’s Health Network.

Plibersek noted that only 1,500 of Australia’s 35,000 GPs are registered prescribers of medical terminations, conceding that her move as health minister to list RU486 on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme had “really not worked as I had hoped” in improving access.

Plibersek said the changes were “really important” for women’s health, citing the example of a woman in a violent relationship in a small town who had two children, requiring an emergency caesarian resulting in a very late term miscarriage.

“Why do we put women through this today, in 2019?”

In October Queensland legalised abortion, removing a 119-year-old “offence against morality” from its criminal code.

The legal change has lead to a push by doctors, lawyers and women’s health services to follow suit in New South Wales, where most people are unaware abortion is still a crime although doctors can approve an abortion if a woman’s physical or mental health is in danger, and take into account social, economic or other medical factors.

Plibersek said there was “a lot of support in the NSW parliament on both sides” to decriminalise abortion, citing bipartisan work that led to the passing of a law establishing safe zones around abortion clinics in July.

Similar provisions exist in Victoria and Tasmania, although those states’ laws are the subject of a high court challenge.