A New Zealand health board has decided to stop offering abortion directly. Instead a private contractor has been hired to carry out the work.
The decision to pull out is thought to be, in part, due to objections by some hospital staff. The new contract negotiated by the Waikato District Health Board is for three years, with three hospitals providing clinical expertise.
The news of the decision was sent in a letter by chief operating officer Jan Adams when she wrote to the pro life group Right to Life. The chairman of this group told reporters: “The fact [is] that the staff at Waikato Hospital just don’t want to be involved in doing abortions”.
Unfortunately, for women who want an abortion, pro abortion experts believe they will be forced to travel some distance to Aukland. This is because the local Waikato clinic contracted to do the work doesn’t have sufficient space.
The decision to restrict access as well as contracting out services has angered Alison McCulloch, of the pro-abortion group, Abortion Law Reform Association. She said: “Making early medical abortion more accessible is a crucial way of ensuring that abortions are performed earlier rather than later.”
It isn’t just New Zealand hospitals that are feeling the effects of an anti abortion backlash. In Wisconsin, USA there is legislation going through the State legislature, which will severely restrict access to abortion clinics as well as self-administered medication.
The Bill will require doctors to prove that the women seeking abortion are not being coerced into having it. Doctors will also be prevented from effectively offering advice on what medication to take to cause an abortion to occur. Proponents of the Bill believe that too many women are deciding to abort after a webcam conference. They want this ended.
The Bill has naturally been criticised by pro abortion groups in Wisconsin. Fiona Cahill, the Director of one such group – Young Progressives Issues said: “Were Wisconsin Republicans truly interested in protecting pregnant women, they should have joined the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health in October in refunding women’s health services to their pre-Governor Walker levels.”
Abortion in many US States has become a major topic, with Republicans actively seeking new ways to restrict access. Abolishing it is not apparently possible, so the next best thing is try and restrict it or at least make it more difficult.
Currently, under Wisconsin law a woman can take a pill to abort the foetus if they are no more than 9 weeks pregnant. The new amendment to the Act will make it difficult to take a pill without the doctor being present.
No doubt other anti abortion campaigners will be studying the passage of this bill with interest.