Queensland Health Offers $147,000 Part-Time Role for Midwife to Oversee Abortions

An ultrasound of a fetus, approximately five months after conception, taken in February 2001. Didier Pallages/AFP via Getty Images

A month after the state Labor government declared it was relaxing laws to allow nurses and midwives to provide abortion services, the government is also advertising for part-time “midwifery navigators” to oversee terminations in regional Queensland.

The part-time role, advertised by Queensland Health via jobs website Seek, offers remuneration of up to $147,790 (US$99,000) per year and a $20,000 relocation payment for a midwifery navigator to oversee pregnancy terminations in Bundaberg and Hervey Bay in the state’s Wide Bay region.

This is despite the the fact medical abortion access is already available through a general practitioner visit, and despite Queensland Health saying services are running smoothly.

The job description explains the role would involve leading termination of pregnancy practices across the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service district, with Indigenous Australians encouraged to apply.

The Labor government has vowed to increase access to pregnancy termination services across the state.

The government’s Termination of Pregnancy Action Plan 2032 includes $41.8 million in funding for expanding the abortion workforce.

Midwives and nurses are now able to dispense the drug MS2-Step to facilitate a medical abortion in women who are up to 63 days’ pregnant, a responsibility previously only entrusted to doctors.

In announcing reforms for regional areas in September, Minister for Health and Women Shannon Fentiman said timely access to abortion was important for rural and regional Queensland women.

“And we know that people in rural and remote regions of our vast state face significant barriers to accessing these vital services,” she said.

‘Strengthening Services’

Queensland Health says roles like the midwife navigator in Bundaberg are part and parcel of the state’s abortion plans.

A Wide Bay Hospital and Health spokesperson told The Epoch Times there had been no disruption to abortion services in the region the job was offered, but said the role was part of a “broader strategy to ensure patients receive the right care in the right place at the right time.”

“Additionally, we have established clear pathways to ensure individuals across the entire Wide Bay region have access to termination services.”

Abortion Revived As Election Issue

Given Bundaberg is Queensland’s most marginal election seat, the issue of abortion has become a much talked-about topic. A special candidates’ forum held in the region was no exception.

Incumbent Labor MP Tom Smith implored candidates across the board to state their stance on abortion.

“A woman has a right to choose, a girl has a right to choose as well,” the former schoolteacher told the audience.

“The candidates need to come forward, what is their position on voluntary assisted dying, what is their position on termination of pregnancy in this state ...

“I don’t want to see dodging on this matter ...”

Liberal National Party (LNP) candidate Bree Watson reaffirmed the stance of Opposition Leader David Crisafulli that no changes are planned for current laws.

Crisafulli has been continually asked if the LNP plans to repeal abortion laws in the state, which include the right to terminate a pregnancy without reason up to 22 weeks’ gestation and for “exceptional circumstances” or health issues after 22 weeks with the approval of two doctors.

At the weekend he again told reporters the LNP would not seek to change existing laws.

“Changes to that Act are not part of the plan and they will not be changed, so there it is,” he said.

Debate was prompted after Katter’s Australian Party, and One Nation, vowed to try roll back abortion law changes after it was decriminalised in Queensland in 2018.

The vast majority of LNP MPs were opposed to the move.

‘Life and Death’

Conservative blogger Bernard Gaynor tells The Epoch Times that candidates should be willing to discuss “culture war” topics like abortion and euthanasia.

“Abortion and euthanasia literally involve killing,” he said.

“I understand why people believe that euthanasia provides a compassionate solution to the suffering of disease and ageing. However, it is wrong to deliberately end any life and the health system should never be used for this purpose,” he said.

“Medical patients in a society that embraces legalised killing will inevitably find that the health system looks to euthanasia as a cheap and simple solution to their problems. I, for one, certainly do not want to be treated by a doctor who has used euthanasia as a health care solution. I would not trust that doctor to put my medical care first.”

Gaynor said voters could make a more informed choice if they knew where their local MPs stood.

“They are life and death issues. Many, many Queenslanders want to know where their local candidates stand.”