Sydney, Australia, Jun 5, 2008 / 04:36 am
The Australian government is considering overturning a 12-year-old policy prohibiting the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) from funding abortion advice, training and services in developing countries.
Opponents of the policy change say it is driven by domestic ideological concerns rather than requests from aid-receiving nations. Those supporting a revamp of the current policy claim it harms women in the Asia-Pacific region’s poorest countries, Cybercast News Service reports.
The present Australian policy was instated by the Liberal-National coalition government of former Prime Minister John Howard due to the work of pro-life independent senator Brian Harradine.
There is growing support for the “Harradine guidelines” to be overturned. A cross-party parliamentary group in May 2007 called the policy “cruel and illogical” and claimed it effectively encouraged unsafe illegal abortions.