Australia: Abortion hotline branded a ‘failure’

A controversial pregnancy helpline established by the former health minister has been shunned by women, The Australian newspaper reports.

The Australian on 4 January claimed that figures reveal that the $15.5million helpline, introduced by Tony Abbott in a bid to reduce the nation’s abortion rate following his failure to stop the introduction of abortion drug RU-486, has neither met government expectations nor assisted more women than a previous, privately run hotline.

In its first seven months of operation, the helpline received 2238 calls - an average of about 320 a month for its 11-plus counsellors. It had fewer than 150 calls in its first two months and while an advertising campaign brought about a surge of calls in July and August, demand fell back to 376 calls in November. Documents obtained under Freedom of Information reveal the 10 companies that bid for the four-year contract were assessed on their ability to handle a much higher volume of calls, the newspaper reports.

A spokesman for federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the Government would monitor the performance of the helpline but it had Labor’s in-principle support.

‘We support the continued provision of balanced information and support but we’re keeping a close eye on the pregnancy support line,’ Ms Roxon’s spokesman said on 3 January. ‘It’s still early days.’

Concerned by figures suggesting 100,000 abortions were performed in Australia each year, Mr Abbott announced a $51million pregnancy support package in 2006, which included one-on-one counselling supported by Medicare. Ms Roxon was one of many politicians and commentators who questioned whether Mr Abbott was allowing his Christian faith to interfere with his decisions on women’s fertility.

While there was outrage over Catholic Church links to guidelines used by helpline counsellors, callers have not been directed to any particular service. Instead, they have been given informal, non-directive advice on where to look for information if they ask for it.

A department spokeswoman said ‘initial feedback has confirmed that callers have found the service to be of assistance’.

‘A reduction in abortion rates is not a formal objective of the service and will not be measured as part of any evaluation,’ the spokeswoman said. ‘The helpline has been designed to assist women, their partners and family to access non-directive counselling in a timely fashion when experiencing an unplanned pregnancy.’

Abbott’s abortion hotline a failure. The Australian, 4 January 2008