Australia’s leading sexual and reproductive healthcare organisation, Marie Stopes International, today welcomed the introduction of the Pregnancy Counselling (Truth in Advertising) Bill 2006.

Female MPs from the Democrats, Liberal Party, Greens and Labor Party will co-sponsor the Private Member's Bill to outlaw misleading and deceptive advertising by pregnancy counselling services - currently exempt from laws banning misleading and deceptive advertising.

“Women have a right to help and advice that is non-directive, provides accurate information and refers for all options when resolving an unplanned pregnancy,” said Suzanne Dvorak, Australian CEO of Marie Stopes International.

“This Bill will ensure anti-abortion pregnancy counselling services can no longer mislead women by giving the incorrect impression that they provide objective information on all pregnancy options.”

A recent study[1] commissioned by Marie Stopes International and conducted by WebSurvey found that 81%[2] of women said it was important that a pregnancy counsellor refer for all three options: abortion, adoption and parenting.

“The fact that four out of five women believe that it is important that pregnancy counsellors refer for all three options, together with the 19% of women who stated that, when they faced an unplanned pregnancy, they relied on pregnancy counsellors accessed by phone or in person for support, highlights the need for regulation in this area to ensure integrity and quality of care,” Ms Dvorak said.

Other key findings in the report include:

• At any given time amongst a sample of women of reproductive age, just over half (51%) have experienced an unplanned pregnancy.
• 75% of women did not wish to speak to a counsellor before making a decision on how to proceed with an unplanned pregnancy.
• Parenting was the most (56%) and adoption the least (2%) popular choice for resolving an unplanned pregnancy.
• 21% of women sought information to assist their decision-making from their spouses/partners/biological father, while their local GP was the port of call for 17% of women facing an unplanned pregnancy. 13% of women stated that they did not need to seek any additional information to assist with their decision-making.
• 19% of women turned to their doctors for emotional support with the next most common resource their families (16%) and anonymous pregnancy counsellors available by phone (12%).
• 90% of women believed women should be able to obtain an abortion in all or some circumstances.

“Unplanned pregnancy is a key health issue for Australian women and more needs to be done to reduce the statistic, recognising women’s desires for support at this time,” Ms Dvorak said.

“I congratulate Senators Natasha Stott Despoja, Judith Troeth, Carol Brown and Kerry Nettle for joining together to protect a woman’s right to make an informed choice and urge the Senate to listen to what the majority of Australian women want by supporting this Bill.” (ends)

[1]What women want when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, Marie Stopes International/WebSurvey, Nov 2006

[2]Sample size: 6,593 invitations were issued and, of the 2,003 women who accepted the Pureprofile invitation to participate in the survey, 1,022 women were eligible to participate on the grounds that they had experienced an unplanned pregnancy

www.mariestopes.com.au