Australian bishops oppose proposal to make RU-486 more available

Published: 2006-01-26

SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- The Australian Catholic Church has been working to prevent lawmakers from allowing an abortion drug to become readily available to women through their doctors. The February vote will decide whether the abortion pill RU-486 will remain under the control of Minister of Health Tony Abbott, a Catholic and stated anti-abortionist, or will be transferred to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, the regulatory body that manages prescription drugs. Calling the estimated 90,000 abortions a year that occur in Australia "too many," Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne, Australia, said in a Jan. 24 statement that he was "totally opposed" to allowing freer access to RU-486.

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