A Senate inquiry into reproductive health is set to recommend increased accessibility of abortion services at public hospitals.
On Thursday the Senate community affairs committee will table its report recommending that the Albanese government work with states and territories to boost access to abortion at public hospitals.
The inquiry also called for a requirement on health services to provide a direct and immediate pathway for women seeking a termination.
The inquiry is chaired by the Greens senator Janet Rice, while the driving force behind liberalisation of access to abortion is the party’s spokesperson for women and leader in the Senate, Larissa Waters.
The inquiry will call for a national telephone advisory service for contraception, pregnancy options including abortion and sexual health, modelled on Victoria’s 1800 My Options.
Before the 2019 election, Labor pledged to work towards full decriminalisation of abortion and to require public hospitals to provide termination services, prompting a rebuke from then prime minister, Scott Morrison, and campaign material distributed by anti-abortion group Cherish Life.
Under the national health reform agreement, states manage the public hospital system and are responsible for services provided, including abortions.
In July the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, indicated Labor was unlikely to go as far as requiring public hospitals to provide abortions in return for their funding.
The Western Australian government submitted to the inquiry that it is “committed to improving access to abortion services”.
It recognised that its stricter rules around abortion – requiring two medical practitioners, mandatory counselling and special approval for terminations after 20 weeks – had “led to some instances where women have travelled interstate for an abortion”.
In WA, public hospitals only accept referrals for abortion services in “limited circumstances” for pregnancies after 20 weeks of gestation, where other “significant risks” are present, or the woman is under 14.
The state acknowledged that “a limited number” of public hospitals in rural and remote areas perform abortions.
“WA would support the development of nationally consistent criteria for when public hospitals should accept referrals for abortions,” the state’s submission said.
The Tasmanian government submitted that it ensures “equitable access to public sector surgical terminations” by establishing referrals for women to a public hospital in Tasmania’s three major regions.
“Surgical terminations are accessible free of charge in each region through the major public hospitals,” it said.
The Women’s Electoral Lobby called for “improved access to affordable abortion care post nine weeks gestation, including in the public health sector”.
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference warned that the inquiry “should not be used to force hospitals or healthcare professionals like doctors, nurses and pharmacists to provide abortion and contraception”.
In its 2021 platform Labor committed to “ensure that whether people choose to continue with pregnancy or not, they are supported by access to relevant medical, support and advice services”.
The Labor senator Deborah O’Neil said “women of all dispositions in a pluralist Australia, especially those in rural and regional areas, should have the right to access the health services they need and want to manage their pregnancies”.
“Providers of those services should also have a right to act in accordance with their conscience. This is an achievable health outcome for modern Australia.”
In April the Australian Capital Territory became the first Australian jurisdiction to offer free universal access to abortion services, prompting calls for the rest of the country to follow suit.
Earlier in May the issue of religious provision of healthcare entered the federal sphere when the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, labelled the ACT government’s takeover of the Catholic-owned Calvary hospital in Bruce an “attack on religion”.
