By Emilie Ng
PHONE abortions were made available to Australian women on Monday, but who are the service providers and where did they come from?
An industry source told The Catholic Leader about unreported information regarding Tabbot Foundation, a new Australian group suddenly offering Australia-wide telephone consultation to receive toxic drug RU486 for $250.
The information includes no search results for Tabbot Foundation as a registered business name on the Australian Securities And Investments Commission’s website.
The source, who asked to remain anonymous, said the public were entitled to know more information about the company before any women make calls for an abortion.
Although the Australian Securities And Investments Commission website does not show results for a search on Tabbot Foundation, the company does have an Australian Business Number and an owner for their website, tabbot.com.au.
The owner is a Tasmanian gynaecologist trading under the registered business name MTOP Pty Limited, or Medical Termination of Pregnancy.
The number for his clinic is available through Tabbot Foundation’s 1800 number.
Calling the 1800 number on Tabbot Foundation’s website references a number to a clinic in Launceston, and women in Tasmania can call the number to receive the RU486 abortion pill.
The clinic’s owner is gynaecologist Dr Paul Hyland, known for speaking out against prolife “protesters”, and the owner of tabbot.com.au.
Australian Doctor Online published a story saying Dr Hyland is the owner of the new phone abortion service’s website.
The tabbot.com.au domain is owned by Dr Paul Hyland and is the registrant contact name for MTOP Pty Limited, or Medical Termination of Pregnancy.
Dr Hyland said in a news report by Mercury Times last year, which spoke of concerns about abortion access following the closure of a “pregnancy termination clinic”, that he performs 1200 to 1500 “terminations” a year.
Dr Hyland did not respond to a request for comment before time of publication.
One Catholic pro-life doctor has already expressed concerns about whether Tabbot Australia was legally and ethically allowed to offer over-the-phone services for home abortions.
The federal health department has also been investigating the new business has not yet made an official statement on Tabbot Australia.
Pro-life organisation Cherish Life Queensland are concerned the easy access to RU486 by email through Tabbot Foundation will increase hospitalisations numbers around the country.
“The news that the abortion drug RU486 will be available after a simple phone conversation with a person in the medical professional licenced to issue this toxic drug regime has been met with concern by Cherish Life Queensland,” CLQ state president Teresa Martin said.
Tabbot Foundation was born to viral admiration on Monday, September 28, with Sydney Morning Herald given the exclusive by Reproductive Choice Australia who have fielding media requests.
Reproductive Choice Australia co-president Jenny Eljak said Tabbot Australia was formed by health professionals offering abortion services across Australia.
The medical professionals believed women should have greater access to abortions.
“A team of health professionals who have been offering abortions around the country had been doing fly-in-fly-out services for women in regional areas,” Ms Eljak said.
The same team of abortion practitioners contacted Reproductive Choice Australia to spread the word about a new tele-consultation service they had been trialing.
Ms Eljak confirmed that it had been previously “trialled” in Launceston, in northern Tasmania, for a period of time before launching on Monday, September 28.
September 28 is a significant day for pro-choice and pro-abortion supporters, as it is also the Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion.
For the last two decades, groups around the world have been “demanding” safe and legal abortions for all women on September 28.
The campaign’s organisers chose September 28 to commemorate “the abolition of slavery in Brazil which is now remembered as the day of the “free womb” demanding for safe and legal abortion for all women”.
Reproductive Choice Australia co-president Jenny Eljak, who is co-ordinating Tabbot Australia’s media requests, said the organisation launched its phone abortion services in conjunction with the international pro-abortion campaign.
“Monday was an international day of action on abortion, and we wanted to launch the new service to help improve access to health in Australia,” she said.
