Victorian Parliament Blocks New Abortion Bill

The lower house of Parliament in Melbourne, Australia, on April 23, 2020. Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

The parliament of the Australian state of Victoria has struck down a bill compelling all hospitals that receive state funding to provide access to abortion services and voluntary assisted dying.

If the bill had passed, it would have compelled all hospitals, including those associated with religious organisations, to provide the said procedures to inquiring patients.

The bill was introduced by MP Fiona Patten from the Reason Party (previously known as the Australian Sex Party), which supports legalised abortion, gay rights, and voluntary euthanasia.

Patten forced a vote on the bill in the Victorian parliament on Aug. 17 following failed negotiations with the Labor government.

However, it was defeated 28-7 by the joint force of Labor, the Opposition and several crossbench MPs.

Among those voting against the bill was MP Bernie Finn, who was expelled from the Victorian Liberal Party in May following a Facebook post in which he said he was praying for abortion to be banned in the state.

Potential Impacts of The Defeated Bill

Current laws rule that pregnant women in Victoria can access abortions up to 24 weeks. Beyond this limit, they can have a medical practitioner perform an abortion if another medical practitioner agrees that the procedure is appropriate.

A general practitioner with a conscientious objection to abortion must refer any pregnant woman seeking the termination information to another medical practitioner who has no objection.

Although the defeated bill did not force individual doctors to provide the medical procedures, it would have prevented hospitals from refusing or redirecting the inquiring patients to other places.

This would have created problems for many health services with religious affiliations that rely on their partner institutions for funding as they are required to uphold certain values.

Parties’ Reactions

Before the voting began, Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas criticised Patten’s proposals and said they would cause some hospitals to suffer financial losses.

“We have here in Victoria the most progressive laws in the nation when it comes to ensuring women can access the sexual reproductive services that they need, including access to termination of pregnancy,” she told reporters.

A general view of the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, on July 16, 2020. Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Echoing the sentiment, Shadow Minister for Health and former midwife Georgie Crozier called Patten’s proposals a “flawed bill.”

“There is no precedent in this state for health services to be mandated in the specific care and services that they provide–none whatsoever,” she told parliament.

Meanwhile, Patten said she knew about some cases where hospitals did not provide contraception to women and that some patients had no say on where they received treatments.

“They can go to the Mercy, or they can be sent to the Women’s. They will get two very different services from two publicly funded hospitals,” she said.

Greens leader Samantha Ratnam, who supported the defeated bill, was disappointed as she linked the voting result to the overturning of the landmark abortion legislation in the United States.

“It is really important we keep these issues on the agenda after the Roe v Wade decision in the US. International events have domestic consequences,” she said on a Twitter post.