Children by Choice’s biannual Reproductive Rights and Abortion Conference will be held in Brisbane in August. In 2022, the conference and conference social event were sold out so they advise those wanting to attend to register as soon as possible.
They also have a new tailor-made Values Clarification, Conscientious Objection, and Destigmatising Practice training package available for hospitals and health services. They offer ways to support and upskill staff to feel confident supporting and delivering compassionate abortion care and managing conscientious objection compassionately and effectively. Data from an evaluation of this new training shows improvements in confidence, knowledge, and reduced abortion stigma for participants. E-mail ed@childrenbychoice.org.au to find out more about the training package.
In the coming weeks, Children by Choice will be releasing a new suite of resources supporting reproductive health and rights for people across the gender spectrum. The first of the resources, a stunning poster series, was launched at an industry webinar to incredible feedback. The image above shows two of the posters.
Defending reproductive rights and pushing back against misinformation are central to CbyC’s mission. This month, they sent a submission to the Queensland Parliament, opposing the Termination of Pregnancy Act (Live Births) Amendment Bill 2024 – an in-depth, 11-page analysis that shows how the bill restricts and undermines the informed decision-making principles of healthcare providers. The bill, a private member’s bill, attempts to restrict and stigmatise abortion services without addressing current barriers of access. They say they cannot allow legislation to be eroded by moral arguments that drag outdated or blatantly misleading information into the community, and they won’t stand for it. Instead of these misguided attempts to legislate healthcare, they advocate for better and earlier access to abortion services across Queensland and better support and training for health professionals.
For reading, they suggest the following research articles:
– Abortion care at 20 weeks and over in Victoria: a thematic analysis of healthcare providers’ experiences (see below for the abstract)
– Equitable access to abortion care is still not a reality in Australia
Other information in the newsletter includes a section on counselling, a list of lunchbox learnings (one hour lunchtime sessions) and details of the Australian Contraception and Abortion Primary Care Practitioner Support Network (AusCAPPS), an online community of practice developed in partnership with key stakeholder groups for primary health care providers who are interested in increasing women’s access to long acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) and medical abortion. GPs, practice nurses and pharmacists are invited to join at no cost. This Community of Practice is designed to help clinicians connect with their peers and access expert knowledge and information.
SOURCE: Children by Choice Newsletter, E-mail: 30 May 2024