‘Hands off’: Nurses rally over abortion pill access
Nurses flocked to state parliament over the abortion pill as Katter’s Australian Party reopened debate on the controversial issue.
Conservative MP Robbie Katter caused an uproar on Tuesday after stating he would move to block a healthcare reform that would prevent more nurses and midwives from using abortion drugs such as MS-2 Step.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has poked fun at the abortion debate in state parliament after repealing pregnancy laws became a key issue in the 2024 election.
But Mr. Katter’s motion to disallow does not mention abortion, instead targeting updates to expanded enforcement authorities (EPAs) for healthcare professionals.
The updates include the state’s Medicines and Poisons framework, which will allow more nurses and midwives to prescribe and administer medications, including the MS-2 Step early termination pill.
Nurses and midwives joined pro-abortion supporters to rally outside the state parliament in Brisbane on Tuesday afternoon, accusing Mr Katter of trying to deny women practical access to care.
“Queensland women need and deserve greater access to free, quality reproductive health care and services, including the MS-2-Step medical termination pill,” said Sarah Beaman, secretary of the Queensland Nurses and Midwives Association.
“This is particularly important in regional and remote areas where access to these services may be limited or problematic.”
Currently, only nurse practitioners and certified midwives statewide can prescribe Step MS-2.
Access is already restricted by publicly funded facilities refusing to terminate medical treatment on religious grounds and a continuing shortage of doctors and obstetricians, Ms. Beaman said.
“Qualified nurses and midwives are well placed to ensure this shortage does not impact women and ensure continued freedom of choice and access to free, quality care,” she said.
Fridae King, the nurses’ union’s assistant midwifery secretary, said reproductive health care was “a right, not a privilege” and warned some women faced driving more than 300 kilometers for the service.
”I say to the politicians who object, ‘Hands Off Our Health Business’; “Women’s health is not a bargaining chip, it is a fundamental right,” he said.
The disallowance motion comes just months after LNP MP Nigel Dalton took to the floor to vote with the Katter party in a bid to disrupt the prime minister’s abortion bill debate joke.
Health Minister Tim Nicholls insisted on Tuesday that the Liberal National Party government would not change Queensland’s pregnancy termination law.
He accused the Labor opposition of using Katter’s party motion to launch a scare campaign over potential abortion reforms under the LNP.
“Queenslanders are tired of Labour’s scare campaigns, lies and failed playbooks,” Mr Nicholls told parliament.
”There has been no change in the law regarding termination of pregnancy and there will be no change.”
The state opposition said the abortion issue was putting the LNP government in a difficult position “no matter how much it wants the prime minister to go”.
Deputy opposition leader Cameron Dick said: “Something will give. There are too many cracks in this government.”
