Queensland to Recruit More Health Staff to Bolster Abortion Services

Queensland Minister for Health, Mental Health and Ambulance Services and Minister for Women, Shannon Fentiman is seen during a press conference at Parliament House in Brisbane, Australia on Oct. 11, 2023. The Queensland government has introduced laws into parliament to criminalise coercive control which will carry a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail. (AAP Image/Darren England)

The Queensland government is recruiting more health staff to “improve access” to abortion services in the state.

On July 6, the Queensland government announced that it was looking to add up to 22 full-time nurses, midwives, social workers and senior medical officers to strengthen the local workforce.

The new policy will cost Queensland taxpayers $20.78 million (US$14 million), with each abortion-providing hospital and health service receiving between $1 million and $1.6 million.

In addition, $8 million in funding will be awarded to Children by Choice, a non-profit organisation that claims to provide “unbiased information” on abortion, to make it easier for women to access the service.

The spending package is part of the Miles government’s $41.8 million funding to support the implementation of the Termination of Pregnancy Action Plan 2032.

The state government said it was “putting the health and safety of Queensland women and pregnant people front and centre” with the new policy.

“Abortion is a very personal choice, and every Queenslander deserves the level of support and care we are offering with this investment,” Queensland Health and Women Minister Shannon Fentiman said.

“As the Minister for Women, it is extremely important to me that Queenslanders have access to safe, world-class pregnancy and reproductive healthcare—and that’s what this investment will do.”

At the same time, Ms. Fentiman criticised the Opposition, claiming that it wanted to keep abortion a criminal offence and was against “safe and timely” access to abortion.

Meanwhile, Shadow Minister for Women Ros Bates said the state was experiencing a healthcare crisis as patients were forced to cope with an under-resourced and under-pressure healthcare system.

“Our ailing health system is getting chronically worse under Labor,” she said.

“It’s clear that because of their chaos and crisis, they don’t have the solutions needed to heal the health crisis.”

The new funding comes just months after Queensland reformed abortion laws, making it legal for nurses and midwives to prescribe the abortion drug MS-2 Step.

The state legalised abortion in 2018 and allowed women to access abortion up to 22 weeks of gestation.

According to the Queensland government, up to a third of Australian women experience an “unintended pregnancy” during their lifetime.

Among those women, one in three will choose to terminate their pregnancy.

Concerns About Post-Abortion Trauma

While the Queensland government promotes abortion as a healthcare service for women, some experts on abortion have raised concerns that the procedure could bring about significant trauma for women.

Experienced grief counsellor Anne Lastman previously told The Epoch Times that while the messages of some abortion services made it seem like abortion was a simple, easy solution for women, it was far from the truth.

“They go ahead with the abortion, and then it becomes a lifelong problem,” she said.

“You never forget it, just as you would never forget a miscarriage. You put it away, but you never forget it. Because it’s a baby—it’s your son or daughter.”

“Time passes, and you go from 15 to 25, to 35 and 75, and when you slow down a bit, you start thinking.”

At the same time, Ms. Lastman rejected the idea that abortion was something that empowered women.

Instead, she said had seen how it hurt and damaged those who wanted to undergo the procedure.

“Women don’t care about their own bodies. We think we do because we buy designer clothing, but it’s not,” she said.

“A woman’s body is designed to carry a baby, so it’s not empowering to be able to have an abortion.”