Australian Federal Minister for Women Katy Gallagher says the government should do more to make abortions accessible to women. She has left open the possibility of tying hospital funding to abortion provision in her National Press Club address on gender equality held last week.
Answering a journalist’s direct question about whether the Labor government would revive its 2019 policy tying Commonwealth funding arrangements to the provision of termination services, Gallagher offered a vague response and did not rule it out.
If the policy were to be revived, around 20 public hospitals operated by Catholic Church bodies in the country would be captured, including St Vincent’s Health Australia and Calvary Health Australia.