Private Members Bill sparks safety concerns

Private Members Bill fails to recognise the potential dangers for women and undue burden on health practitioners in rural NSW.

Press Release

Pro-life Health Professionals Australia (PHPA) strongly opposes Dr Amanda Cohn’s private member’s bill, titled the Abortion Law Reform Amendment (Health Care Access) Bill 2025. Director of PHPA, Dr Melissa Lai explains “The evidence being used to justify the need for increased access to abortion is biased research and is inappropriately being extrapolated to represent the views of all rural healthcare workers. The shortage in services exists because most rural healthcare workers are conscientiously opposed to being involved in abortions”.

“Complications from medical abortions are 4 times more likely to occur than surgical abortions, and in rural settings when services are already stretched, and distances to emergency services are greater, knowingly increasing the number of women who will experience problems from abortion drugs is negligent, and not in the best interests of rural women or health practitioners”, Dr Lai said.

The provision of quality healthcare relies greatly on accurate data collection, to minimise adverse events to patients. As revealed in the recent Abortion Reform Review report, insufficient data is being collected on abortion currently in NSW, which highlights the reckless nature of increasing access to abortion drugs without proper surveillance or better access to obstetric services. The lack of robust data collection and careful review clearly brings into question the claim that abortion is healthcare and is safe.

Dr Lai says, “the most shocking part is suggesting that those who conscientiously object should still be expected to participate and refer on. If NSW Health has any respect for their workforce, they need to respect their world view that won’t allow them to deliberately end the life of another human being, something that pro-abortion politicians seemingly ignore”.

ENDS