Abortion services threatened

BY KAMALA EMANUEL

HOBART — Yet another crisis has hit the provision of abortion services in Tasmania: in the past month doctors performing the procedure in the state's public hospitals have withdrawn the service fearing possible prosecution.

In a serious breach of patient confidentiality, a medical student has made a complaint to the police about the provision of abortion services at the Royal Hobart Hospital. An investigation is currently underway.

Public hospital staff have been informed that they would no longer be given legal support if charged in relation to providing abortion services. As a result, they have withdrawn services until the legal status of abortion provision can be clarified.

In the past, abortions were provided in public hospitals on the understanding that legal support would be available in the event of charges being laid in relation to abortion provision. In the public hospital system, the government acts as the insurer. (In outside practice, it is usual for doctors to have legal cover through a medical defence organisation.)

Previous government legal advice had specified that if two doctors certified that an abortion was necessary to prevent substantial harm to the pregnant woman's mental or physical health, abortion would be given the same kind of legal cover as other procedures.

This had meant that under successive Labor and Liberal governments, abortion has been available on a limited basis (depending on the willingness of staff to provide the service) through some public hospitals.

Doctors in the private sector in the north of the state have also stopped performing abortions. Limited private services remain in the north-west and the south of the state. The Royal Hobart Hospital is flying surgical and anaesthetic staff from interstate to provide a limited number of abortions each week. Women in the north of Tasmania have to travel to clinics in Melbourne to access abortion. Some government funding assistance is available for the travel costs.

The issue has received wide media coverage in the past week, when it was revealed that Premier Jim Bacon had referred the legal status of abortion to the Law Reform Institute.

Defenders of women's right to choose abortion met on December 5 and launched People for Choice, a new organisation to advocate for legal reform.

Any proposed legislative changes would face the "conscience vote" of Tasmania's parliamentarians. Media reports have indicated nine MPs in favour of abortion on demand, nine against, 10 undecided and 12 unavailable for comment.

From Green Left Weekly, December 12, 2001.

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From GLW issue 475