CATHOLIC groups have welcomed the announcement of a new Medicare payment for pregnancy support counselling and a 24-hour hotline to help those wishing to “explore pregnancy options”.
Under the initiative announced by Prime Minister John Howard on March 2, women who had been pregnant in the previous 12 months would also be eligible for the counselling service.
Mr Howard said he hoped the measures would reduce Australia’s high abortion rate.
Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott said more than 100,000 abortions were performed each year in Australia, and national polls showed that 87 per cent of Australians believe the abortion rate is excessive.
Executive director of the Life Office of the Archdiocese of Sydney, Brigid Vout, said professional counselling, independent of abortion providers, would “provide women with the information and space that might not otherwise be available to them”.
Brisbane Centacare director Peter Selwood said the organisation would be keen to become involved in abortion counselling.
Cardinal George Pell of Sydney said if the Catholic Church decided to offer counselling programs under the new plan, Church counsellors would not “bully” women to prevent abortions.
Greens Senator Kerry Nettle has criticised the proposed involvement of Catholic groups in counselling, saying “it was an attempt by the Health Minister to push his anti-abortion views onto Australian women”.
But Catholic Health Australia chief executive officer Francis Sullivan dismissed her comments and said professional counselling would help individuals clarify their own values and choices.
Mr Howard said the helpline operators would be decided through a Commonwealth tender.
