Cherish Life Queensland has slammed the State Labor Government’s closure of 40 maternity units during its various terms over the past two decades, which has led to a spike in infant mortality and dangerous birthing conditions for many Queensland mothers in rural and regional areas.

“The Labor Government’s disregard for the health of expectant women and babies in rural and regional areas over many years is very worrying, especially when contrasted to the way it is now pushing for extreme abortion laws under which public hospitals would have to provide free abortion on request,” Ms Teeshan Johnson, Cherish Life executive director said.

“It seems successive Labor Governments have made critical health decisions based on money, at the expense of babies’ lives and women’s health.

“Now Deputy Premier Jackie Trad is spruiking extreme and unpopular abortion-to-birth legislation, which if passed will further reduce the supply of doctors to rural and regional areas because of the lack of proper conscientious objection protection for doctors.

“Ironically, one of the reasons abortion advocates are giving for this extreme legislation is that women in rural and regional areas will have better access to abortion.

“So there could well be a situation where a regional hospital which has had its birthing unit closed will start to offer abortion services instead under the proposed Labor law.

“It is an absolute disgrace that the Labor Government has caused though its closure of much-needed birthing units a situation in which babies born in country towns without a maternity unit have almost four times the chance of dying as babies who are born in rural hospitals with maternity services.

“And it would be a huge insult to these regional towns to offer abortion services in the place of birthing units in the local hospitals.”