Hospitals and hospital managers would be barred from blocking abortions under new guidelines proposed by NSW Health. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
The ABC has obtained a draft copy of the “termination of pregnancy policy directive” and reported last week that it includes a new section explicitly excluding conscientious objection for health administrators.
Under the state’s Abortion Law Reform Act 2019, individual doctors have a right to refuse to perform abortions, although it is very restricted.
Doctors must inform their patients of their views and refer them to another doctor who will do the abortion.
However, the legislation is silent about institutional conscientious objection. The proposed directive would close this “loophole”.
It notes that “conscientious objection is a personal and individual right”. It specifies that it does not extend to hospital administrators or to “hospitals, institutions or services.”
A spokesperson for NSW Health told the ABC that the guidelines are “on track” to be published early next year.
Greens MP Amanda Cohn, a former GP who used to provide abortions, welcomed the restrictions on conscientious objection to abortion.
However, she said they do not go far enough. She would like to see public hospitals providing “the full suite of reproductive health services, including abortion, where that’s within their capability.”
FULL STORY
Push to ban conscientious objection to abortion by NSW hospitals (The Catholic Weekly)
