Major parties move to avoid an election debate about abortion, as the Greens pledge more funding for services
Health Minister Mark Butler has said Labor will not revisit a scrapped policy that linked hospital funding to abortion services. (AAP: Mick Tsikas)
In short:
Health Minister Mark Butler has ruled out revisiting a 2019 Labor policy that would have linked federal funding for public hospitals to the provision of abortion services.
The major parties have both moved to shut down a national debate over abortion, insisting that it is a matter for the states and territories.
What's next?
The Greens have gone the other direction and called on the government to support their policy of increasing federal funding by $100 million a year in a bid to improve abortion access across the country.
The major parties have moved to avoid an election debate about abortion, with Labor confirming it would not revisit a scrapped policy that would force publicly funded hospitals to provide the procedure to receive federal funding.
Neither Labor nor the Coalition have plans to change the status quo when it comes to abortion, which is legal in all Australian jurisdictions, with both parties insisting that it is an issue for the states.
But the Greens want access to reproductive care on the election agenda, with a promise to provide an extra $100 million in federal funding each year to ensure public hospitals offer termination services.
The issue of reproductive rights featured heavily in the recent United States' presidential election campaign, in the wake of the overturning of Roe v Wade, which protected abortion rights, and was also canvassed locally as part of the Queensland election last month.
State Liberal National Party (LNP) leader David Crisafulli tried to clamp down on the debate during the Queensland campaign, promising that there would be no change to the abortion access in response the Katter's Australian Party's vow to repeal abortion laws.
But some Queensland Liberals and Nationals, including federal Nationals leader David Littleproud, have said the abortion debate still cost them votes at the election.
In a party room meeting last week, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton sought to shut down backbenchers who had begun to float the issue at a national level, warning his colleagues that it would be a distraction in a federal election context.
On Wednesday, Mr Dutton offered his first public comments on the matter since the meeting, reiterating that abortion should not become an election issue and warning that if Labor tried to make it one it would "probably be the cheapest, most crass political effort in recent history".
Asked about his personal views on the matter, the opposition leader said he supported "a woman's right to choose".
"I've been in very difficult circumstances as a detective working in the sex offenders squad where I've dealt with women who have been raped ... it's a very, very difficult situation," he told ABC RN Breakfast.
"Ultimately that's a choice and a decision for that individual to make — and that's the position I support."
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he supported a "woman's right to choose". (ABC News: Andrew O'Connor)
Questions over abortion access
In 2019, while in opposition, Labor promised that if re-elected they would make the federal funding the government allocates to major public hospitals conditional on them providing abortion services.
It later dumped the policy and now takes the position that abortion is a matter for the states and territories.
"That's not our policy and I don't have any intention to revisit it," Health Minister Mark Butler told reporters on Wednesday.
"States and territories are responsible for the operation of their hospital systems, they are answerable to their communities for that, we are a part-funder of hospitals but we are not an operator of hospitals, we don't really have that expertise."
While the states and territories are primarily responsible for regulating abortion, the federal government provides some funding under Medicare.
The government has said a Senate inquiry into reproductive healthcare access would guide its policy on the issue, but more than a year after its report was handed down the government is yet to respond to the recommendations.
On Wednesday, the ABC published evidence that a public hospital in regional New South Wales had implemented a formal ban on surgical abortions.
Queanbeyan Hospital had previously provided the service for fetal anomalies and medical reasons, but it stopped abruptly in August.
It follows a similar case at Orange Hospital, uncovered by an earlier ABC investigation, which stemmed from a verbal directive to staff to stop providing abortions for non-medical reasons.
The Greens want to see increased access to publicly-funded abortion services, this week urging Labor to back free and accessible abortion care for all Australians.
Under the Greens proposal, the federal government would provide $100 million a year to ensure all Australians can access terminations through the public hospital system.
"It is disappointing that Labor has ruled out returning to its 2019 position of requiring public hospitals to provide abortion care as part of federal funding agreements," said Larissa Waters, the Greens spokesperson for women.
"Reproductive healthcare must not be a culture war or a postcode lottery. No one should fall through the cracks when it comes to accessing vital healthcare."