Australia – ‘I was shocked’: Catholic-run public hospitals refuse to provide birth control and abortion

Publicly funded Catholic hospitals across Australia are using the cover of religion to opt out of providing reproductive care – and experts say it has created a ‘postcode lottery’ for access to services

by Donna Lu and Melissa Davey
Mon 21 Aug 2023

When Sarah*, a Melbourne mother, was pregnant with her second child, her GP gave her a surprising warning: if she had any serious complications, concerns about the viability of the pregnancy or believed she might be miscarrying, she should go to the Royal Women’s hospital rather than the Mercy Hospital for Women, where she was planning to deliver the baby.

The reason, the GP told her, was that the Mercy – a public hospital in Melbourne’s north-east – would not assist in terminating a pregnancy due to its Catholic affiliation.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/22/do-australian-catholic-hospitals-perform-abortions-provide-contraception-reproductive-care


Ireland – Abortion laws ‘must not leave doctors in fear of prosecution’

Abortion laws ‘must not leave doctors in fear of prosecution’

Jennifer Bray, Ireland Deputy Political Editor
August 24 2018

The government has been urged to improve its draft legislation on abortion to stop doctors interpreting the new laws too conservatively.

A position paper by experts from Dublin City University, the University of Birmingham and Queen Mary University of London said that the government should consider asking doctors who have a conscientious objection to providing abortion care to declare it before the law comes into effect. Clinical guidelines that are due to be introduced alongside the legislation should clarify when and how a doctor who holds a conscientious objection should disclose it, it says.

Continued: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/abortion-laws-must-not-leave-doctors-in-fear-of-prosecution-wpwvkqnsp


Ireland – Catholic hospitals set to ban abortion

Catholic hospitals set to ban abortion
Terminations will be refused under bishops’ ethics code

Ellen Coyne, Senior Ireland Reporter
July 25 2018

Catholic hospitals could break the law and refuse to offer abortions in all circumstances, a “code of ethics” drafted by the Irish Catholic Bishops suggests. Guidelines for up to 20 main hospitals connected with religious orders include a ban on most assisted reproduction procedures. The few allowed are not to be given to unmarried women or LGBT couples.

The Code of Ethical Standards for Healthcare, which sets out what can be expected from Catholic healthcare services, bans contraception; gender reassignment surgery for transgender people, crisis pregnancy counselling with information on abortion and counselling for families going through a fatal foetal abnormality diagnosis that lists termination as an option.

Continued: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/catholic-hospitals-set-to-ban-abortion-v9zwkd2qk