Posted on 02/19/2006 1:56:42 AM PST by Aussie Dasher
FEDERAL Health Minister Tony Abbott is waging a new war on abortion by attempting to take millions of dollars off counselling services he believes encourage women to abort.
Undeterred by his loss in the RU486 abortion pill debate, Mr Abbott has put a plan to Cabinet that aims to bypass all counselling services to women provided by abortion clinics.
The plan, worth more than $50 million, would see the Federal Government directly funding church-affiliated groups such as Lifeline (an arm of the Wesley Mission) and Anglicare to provide alternate counselling.
Mr Abbott believes counselling offered by abortion clinics is fundamentally predisposed towards going ahead with termination. He has argued in Cabinet that professional advice should be at arm's length from abortion providers.
Mr Abbott has rejected calls for increased funding for education about abortion because that would involve the six Labor states, which have much more lenient views on the issue. The counselling option would be directly funded by the Commonwealth alone.
The plan has two prongs.
The first would involve setting up a 24-hour pregnancy support hotline. Community advice providers would be asked to tender for the operation.
The second prong would involve face-to-face counselling. Counsellors would be given a Medicare provider number, allowing clients to claim back the fee.
His proposal is based on research that shows that the longer a woman thinks about abortion, the less likely she is to go through with it.
It's understood that the Prime Minister is highly supportive of the submission, while other ministers are known to have doubts.
Mr Abbott has highlighted the rising levels of abortion in Australia -- he puts the figure at 100,000 a year -- as a trend that must be turned back.
In Parliament last week, during the debate over the abortion pill RU486, he described the figure as a matter of "unutterable shame".
He needs our prayers if he to succeed in his quest to stop the killing of Australian babies.
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