Women in Australia who undergo abortions at 20 weeks or later may be eligible for government payments intended for parents who suffer a stillbirth, raising alarm among pro-life advocates.
Services Australia, which administers government payments, confirms that parents of stillborn babies can access either a lump sum of $4,326.57 or Parental Leave Pay totalling more than $22,750 over 24 weeks. Official guidance states that eligibility “does not exclude circumstances where the stillbirth was due to a medical termination, including an intentional abortion.”
Abortion is legal until birth in every Australian state, permitted on physical, psychological, or social grounds with the approval of two doctors. In practice, this allows abortion on demand throughout pregnancy.
Data from Victoria, the first state to pass such laws in 2008, show that between 2008 and 2020, more than 1,400 late-term abortions were performed for psychosocial reasons, including one at 37 weeks. In South Australia, official statistics reveal that nearly 80 per cent of late-term abortions in 2023 were carried out for reasons linked to the mother’s health, but none were performed to save her life.
Professor Joanna Howe of the University of Adelaide has warned that the payment system creates a loophole. She said midwives and nurses had expressed deep distress at being required to process payments for women following abortions. One midwife reported that a woman who aborted her healthy baby at 28 weeks said she planned to use the funds for a holiday.
Howe also noted that payments can be directed to a partner, raising concerns that men could coerce women into abortions and then claim the money. Studies have shown that many women seeking abortions experience partner violence or reproductive coercion.
Catherine Robinson of Right To Life UK said the scheme “urgently needs to be closed,” warning that the loophole could incentivise late-term abortions and increase the risk of coercion.
Adapted from reporting by Right To Life UK.
