Women’s health services
Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (09:52): Over the summer break I had surgery to have my copper IUD removed after it had lodged itself in my uterus wall creating a perforation risk. In order for it to proceed, I had to have the procedure at a non-religious hospital. All over Victoria there are hospitals conscientiously objecting on religious grounds to all reproductive healthcare services for women and gender-diverse people. Shockingly, they are receiving taxpayer funds but can still legally deny services. Since sharing my experiences I have been contacted in droves by people all over the state with similar or worse experiences – women who were denied contraception after giving birth, women who had to terminate wanted pregnancies for medical reasons forced to seek out another hospital to accept them and women who were hospitalised for emergencies and denied their prescription birth control while in the hospital bed. In the public system, where patients cannot choose their provider or are literally zoned to them due to location, hospitals should not be allowed to deny essential and sometimes life-saving healthcare services. In fact medical care should never be shaped by any imposed religious faith. Like other members have in this place before me, today I reiterate the desperate need for the Victorian government to end institutional conscientious objections and ensure fair, equal and compassionate access to health care for every Victorian across our state.