Steven Miles’ $42m abortion action plan yet to begin despite Labor’s scare tactics

Steven Miles’ government is yet to roll out its $42m abortion action plan as Labor ramps up its election scare that the LNP is secretly planning to make the procedure a crime again.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles and Health Minister Shannon Fentiman at Ipswich Hospital on Thursday. Picture: Glenn Campbell/NewsWire

Steven Miles’ Labor government is yet to roll out its $42m abortion action plan as his party ramps up its election scare campaign that the Liberal National Party is secretly planning to make the procedure a crime again.

Seven months after the plan was announced, the government’s key “virtual” abortion and “wraparound support” services have not been launched.

Sources with knowledge of the program’s implementation have told The Australian the $8m support service contract has not been signed and Labor was waiting for next week’s start of the campaign to announce the awarding of $9.9m for the telehealth program.

It can also be revealed that the support service funding was awarded to a Labor-linked not-for-profit organisation in July without going to tender.

Children by Choice is headed by Jill McKay who, until late 2022, was a top official at the public servants’ Together Union, where Mr Miles used to work and which is currently running a heavily funded social media campaign supporting Labor.

There was no tender process done before the multimillion-­dollar contract was awarded to Children by Choice, a client of Labor-aligned lobbying firm ­Anacta Strategies.

Anacta is owned by former ALP state secretary Evan Moorhead and Labor adviser David Nelson, both of whom are personally banned from lobbying in Queensland after revelations they ran Annastacia Palaszczuk’s 2020 re-election campaign while advocating to the state government for their corporate clients.

Ms McKay will on Friday be a key speaker at a union-led rally in Brisbane’s King George Square “about the urgent need to safeguard abortion across the state”.

In recent weeks, Mr Miles, his MPs and the union movement have put abortion at the centre of Labor’s negative campaign against the LNP, claiming Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has “plans to legislate control of women’s bodies” if he prevails at the October 26 state election.

Mr Crisafulli, who voted against decriminalising abortion in 2018, has repeatedly ruled out making changes to the laws if elected and confirmed to The Australian last week that an LNP government would continue funding Labor’s termination-of-pregnancy action plan.

He also reaffirmed his commitment that abortion would remain available on demand up to 22 weeks’ gestation and there would be no legislative review.

The action plan was announced on March 6 by Health Minister Shannon Fentiman who said the measures were needed because “we have heard first-hand about the barriers that exist to accessing these services”.

It was announced as Queensland separately became the first state to pass laws giving registered nurses and midwives powers to prescribe medical abortion pills.

The legislation, which the LNP opposed, came into effect earlier this month.

After accusing Mr Crisafulli of running a campaign focused on “fear and loathing”, Mr Miles this week again claimed the LNP had secret plans to roll back termination of pregnancy laws.

Queensland Opposition Leader David Crisafulli on Thursday. Picture: Liam Kidston

Mr Miles said the LNP would “force women to have babies even where they are pregnant as a result of rape’’.

Queensland Health on Thursday did not answer questions about whether there was an open and competitive tender process for the funding for Children by Choice.

“Children by Choice was selected as the most suitable supplier in line with Queensland procurement policy because they were capable of delivering crucial wraparound support services,” a Queensland Health spokeswoman said, confirming the “wrap­around services” would start later this year. It was understood Labor had planned to announce next week that its Sunshine Coast regional service would be running the delivery of the “virtual early medical termination of pregnancy service”.

Internal department documents, obtained by The Australian, reveal telehealth services were due to commence on October 1, the day the state election campaign proper begins.

Abortion provider MSI, formerly Marie Stopes, has been delivering a telehealth service since 2020 after closing several of its ­regional clinics in Queensland, citing rising costs.

At the time, MSI said there was underfunding of state and federal bodies and that they had been in funding discussions with the Queensland government for its telehealth service.

Sources say the decision was made to bring telehealth services “in-house” to the health department due to union agreements.

Queensland’s Termination of Pregnancy Act, passed in 2018, removed abortion from the Criminal Code, allowed the procedure on request up to 22 weeks’ gestation and introduced safe access zones of 150m around clinics to protect women from harassment.

Friday’s rally, organised by the Queensland Council of Unions, comes as the union movement launches a petition demanding commitment from Mr Crisafulli that women have access to termination services, the medical abortion drug MS-2 Step, and that an LNP government would continue fund services, despite his already having pledged to do so.

QCU general secretary Jacqueline King said union members “simply don’t believe” the LNP would honour its promise not to roll back abortion reform.

“Queensland women do not want to become the next Roe v Wade story of diminished healthcare rights off the back of a conservative government,” she said.