Fiona Patten's Bill to defund Catholic Hospitals fails

On 17th August 2022, Fiona Patten's Bill to defund Catholic Hospitals failed, as all the Labor and all the Liberal Members of the Legislative Council voted against it. She called her bill, the "Health Legislation Amendment (Conscientious Objection) Bill 2022. It provided:

"a denominational hospital – (a) must provide advice and services for or relating to voluntary assisted dying; and (b) in the case of a denominational hospital that provides gynaecological, obstetrics or neonatal services – must provide advice and services for or relating to - (i) contraception; and (ii) the supply of contraceptives; and (iii) medical or surgical abortion;"

No state funding would be available to hospitals which refused to kill their patients by abortion or euthanasia. Victorian Health Minister, Mary-Ann Thomas, after conferring with Ms Patten, said that the proposals would lead to some hospitals losing money. "The bill seems to endorse funding cuts to public health services in Victoria," she concluded. "We are not in the business of cutting funding to public health services in Victoria – indeed the absolute opposite."

Shadow Minister for Health, and former mid-wife, Georgie Crozier said Ms Patten's Bill was "flawed." "There is no precedent in this state for health services to be mandated in the specific care and services that they provide – none whatsoever," she told Parliament. "To say that women's rights are being denied are not right," she said "It is ridiculous and it is wrong."

The Bill was defeated 28/7. Members of the Legislative Council who voted for the Bill were: Transport Matters Party M.L.C. Rod Barton, Animal Justice Party M.L.C. Andy Meddick, Greens Samantha Ratnam, Sustainable Australia M.L.C. Andy Meddick and Derryn Hinch's Justice Party ML.C.'s Tania Maxwell and Stuart Grimley, as well as Fiona Patten of the Reason Party, formerly the Sex Party.