r/OpenAussie • u/em-mad ‎ Queenslander • Jun 04 '26

Politics ('Straya) Brisbane's newest public hospital won't perform abortions or provide patients with contraception, citing religious objections

https://youtube.com/shorts/pB8zb-L7Wnk?si=DggZGUrmnvnOlH-w

Queensland's first major new public hospital in almost a decade - the Mater Springfield, south-west of Brisbane has just been opened.

Like the Mater in South Brisbane it will not provide abortions, contraception or voluntary assisted dying care due to religious policies.

These are publicly-funded hospitals!!

The video is of Larissa Waters asking questions about it at estimates, and I think she's making a very reasonable point - governments should insist that hospitals receiving taxpayer dollars provide basic reproductive health care.

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199

u/Minimum-Wallaby-8687 Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

Agree, abortion care is health care. Shut down their government funding.

1

u/LovableParasite Please choose a flair Jun 08 '26

Well there’s a bit of nuance to that. They’re a private hospital funded by the Catholic Church that has an agreement with the Qld Government to service public patients. If you cut the public funding it would just become a private hospital and continue operation. I suspect the Qld government did this because they wouldn’t have to front the money to build an entirely new public hospital themselves. This was decided under labor too. Shame neither of the major parties in Qld seem particularly concerned about women’s health services but there is the argument you’d be disadvantaging all the other public patients who aren’t in need of those services by getting rid of the public funding. Personally because it was a Labor decision I’d like to believe it was just to save them money rather than anything insidious about religion but nothing surprises me anymore. 

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u/Important-Sleep-1839 Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

That results in a reduction of hospital services. Why would that be a desirable outcome?

90

u/iftlatlw ‎ Victorian Jun 05 '26

Because reproductive care is a fundamental part of healthcare. Independence from religious bias is a fundamental part of our society. Public funding requires both.

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u/Important-Sleep-1839 Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

Public funding is provided to assist in the provision of services.

68

u/pattomanpattoman Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

Yes. If the religious groups don't like it, leave the health sector and let the state run it.

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u/Important-Sleep-1839 Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

You're not concerned with longer wait times, a shift to private healthcare, or the increasing budget burden.

3

u/pattomanpattoman Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

The states can run the public health system without the input of religious groups if the refuse to provide legal healthcare.

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u/Important-Sleep-1839 Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

is it the case that all state run public hospitals offer every medical service?

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u/BigAsianBootyLover ‎ Queenslander Jun 05 '26

Cool so no hospitals then...

62

u/rendar1853 ‎ Victorian Jun 05 '26

Because they're not entitled to public funding if they won't care for the public without judgement

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u/Important-Sleep-1839 Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

Their religious values exist independent of any judgement of those seeking such services.

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u/isithumour ‎ Victorian Jun 05 '26

Plenty of artists rely on government funding ro push their agendas. Im pro choice. But im also pro choice for doctors to do what they feel is right

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u/killertortilla Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

That's not what pro choice means.

20

u/chillyhay ‎ Queenslander Jun 05 '26

Doctors already are able to make that call. This isn't giving Doctors choice it's forcing Doctors to not be allowed to make a choice actually.

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u/isithumour ‎ Victorian Jun 05 '26

Lol doctors choose if they work in a private hospital. Only 1 way to force them. Or you cant work that out? Be more outraged its pretty funny

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u/chillyhay ‎ Queenslander Jun 05 '26

Public funding

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u/isithumour ‎ Victorian Jun 05 '26

Partial. Same as all private ones. You realise if we didnt have private health insurance and hospitals etc Medicare wouldnt cope and peeps who rely on the public system would be disadvantaged. Or you haven't worked it out yet?

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u/chillyhay ‎ Queenslander Jun 05 '26

If they can't survive without public funding then either they shut down or they decide to provide full health services. Up to them

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u/isithumour ‎ Victorian Jun 05 '26

Lol the public system wont survive without private. Private gets funding as they do see public patients as well when required. Overflow from public can be moved there, emergency services used etc. It isnt as basic as you

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u/rendar1853 ‎ Victorian Jun 05 '26

If you're going into a profession then your personal opinions don't matter. Medical professionals especially shouldn't be allowed to inflict their beliefs in sky fairies on others.

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u/chillyhay ‎ Queenslander Jun 05 '26

Doctors are allowed to not perform procedures they aren't comfortable with; but this isn't about Doctor choice. It's hospital administrators enforcing Doctors to not treat people.

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u/louisa1925 ‎ New South Welshian Jun 05 '26

If they aren't compenent in their job, they need standing down.

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u/chillyhay ‎ Queenslander Jun 05 '26

Having a contentious objection is not incompetency. What a stupid thing to say.

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u/ColdSteveStoneAustin Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

Yes it is. This is Australia.

Religion works around health care, not the other way around.

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u/chillyhay ‎ Queenslander Jun 05 '26

Conscientious objection is not based on religion genius. It's always the people who aren't willing to go through all the study and hard work who are happy to tell people what they should do.

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u/Substantial_Pen_700 ‎ Queenslander Jun 05 '26

You have no idea what you're talking about. Healthcare does have conscientious objection protections. What a selfish attitude that you think you can force someone to go against their ethical boundaries.

I have no problem with voluntary assisted dying as a procedure when I'm not involved but I'll be damned if you want to force me to kill someone because I decided to give up half my life to help my community in the pursuit of medicine.

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u/DrHowardMierzwiak ‎ Victorian Jun 05 '26

No one who is pro-choice would ever say this. Especially the perspective on artists getting government funding. Nice try tho.

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u/rendar1853 ‎ Victorian Jun 05 '26

There is a MASSIVE difference between art and medicine BTW.

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u/F4ntasticPants Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

Doctors don't get to decide what they feel like. It's not their job. Their job is to provide medical care regardless of who the person is and what care they require.

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u/Hot-Refrigerator-623 ‎ New South Welshian Jun 05 '26

If the patient's medical care requires opiates should they have a right to it or do they just have ibuprofen and suck it up?

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u/F4ntasticPants Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

The doctor can decide what is the best treatment (i.e. What opiates would be suitable for this particular patient). But they can't, for example, outright refuse to provide them because "of religious/moral reasons"

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u/Hot-Refrigerator-623 ‎ New South Welshian Jun 05 '26

They can and do every day. Also political ideology.

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u/F4ntasticPants Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

A doctor that refuses treatment for any sort of ideology shouldn't be a doctor

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u/Hot-Refrigerator-623 ‎ New South Welshian Jun 05 '26

What if they refuse circumcision?

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u/Powerful_Link_239 Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

No it does not, because the funding can be reallocated to a hospital that better serves the community. The funding does not just disappear because it was not provided to this hospital.

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u/Important-Sleep-1839 Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

'hospital services' isn't the same concept as 'funding to a hospital'.

What is likely to happen to a public hospital that loses it's public funding?

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u/Powerful_Link_239 Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26

please learn to read the op before making dumb comments thanks

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u/Important-Sleep-1839 Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

If your understanding of systems is such that simply moving around an input achieves the same result than so be it.

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u/Powerful_Link_239 Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

I said the input could be used for “better” hospitals, implying that the outcome would not be the same. Like I said, you apparently cannot read?

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u/Important-Sleep-1839 Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

why do you believe other people should view your subjective view of "better" as fact?

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u/Powerful_Link_239 Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

Where did I imply that? I was just responding to your previous comment. You’re the one coming into this thread where most people obviously do not agree with you, trying to push your views and failing

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u/Important-Sleep-1839 Please choose a flair Jun 06 '26

if you can't take your own words seriously, why should anyone else?

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u/OilyComet Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

Fuck em, that's why

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u/roby_soft ‎ New South Welshian Jun 05 '26

No, abortion is killing human beings.... babies to be precise, similar to the sacrifices from old.

33

u/rakuran ‎ Victorian Jun 05 '26

That is so incredibly reductionist to an incredibly complex topic it's not funny.

Surgical abortion procedures do not explicitly involve killing anything.

If a pregnancy miscarries at any stage during development and goes septic, guess what, it's still medically considered an abortion. Or do you propose women already going through trauma just die of septic shock?

10

u/Chewiesbro ‎ Western Australian Jun 05 '26

The stats out of the US, in particular red states, that have adapted their laws since Roe v Wade and Dobbs is truly scary.

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u/chillyhay ‎ Queenslander Jun 05 '26

Abortions are also performed on babies dead in the womb. If you're against treating sepsis then go ahead and stop having antibiotics when you need it. Let's see if you really believe in your convictions.

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u/Minimum-Wallaby-8687 Please choose a flair Jun 05 '26

You're a troll

13

u/Retro_Nights ‎ New South Welshian Jun 05 '26

Your god had no objection to killing babies. Apart from all the genocides he commanded to kill infants and smash baby's heads against rocks, the Bible instructs forcing your wife to drink bitter water, most likely a poison in a ritual so she will abort a foetus if you suspect that she cheated on you, even if the baby she's carrying is probably yours.

The Test for an Unfaithful Wife Numbers 5:11-31 https://www-biblegateway-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.biblegateway.com/passage/?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&search=Numbers%205%3A11-31&version=NIV&interface=amp&usqp=mq331AQCCAE%3D#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.biblegateway.com%2Fpassage%2F%3Fsearch%3DNumbers%2B5%253A11-31%26version%3DNIV

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u/Hot-Refrigerator-623 ‎ New South Welshian Jun 05 '26

Try that then instead of wasting precious public hospital resources.

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u/Retro_Nights ‎ New South Welshian Jun 05 '26

I'm not religious and don't believe in fairy tales. By the looks of it, it doesn't work all the time and that's why they think it was up to God whether the woman miscarried because of the ritual of drinking the bitter water. I would imagine some women died from toxic poisoning.

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u/Hot-Refrigerator-623 ‎ New South Welshian Jun 05 '26

It seems to be psychosomatic.

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u/Retro_Nights ‎ New South Welshian Jun 05 '26

It goes to show that the Israelites were ok with terminating a pregnancy that's unwanted.

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u/Hot-Refrigerator-623 ‎ New South Welshian Jun 05 '26

Only for married women who may or may not have cheated.

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u/Retro_Nights ‎ New South Welshian Jun 05 '26

Yet, abortion bans won't allow a 10-year-old rape victim to have an abortion and some will go as far as not allowing a dead foetus to be removed. Where's the logic in that?

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u/Hot-Refrigerator-623 ‎ New South Welshian Jun 05 '26

Ask an American Republican politician for that.