When Roseanne Masters rose to speak at the recent Family First National Conference, she did not come with “the light and fluffy stuff.”
Instead, she delivered a sober warning about how the abortion industry seems to have compromised Australia’s health system and endangered both unborn children and their mothers.
“I don’t think there’s any other issue that has come anywhere close to the smothering of truth than this one,” she said. “Even the very word abortion is smothered by all kinds of deceptive words.”
The Deception of “Healthcare"
Roseanne argued that abortion has been sold to the public—and tragically to doctors and nurses—as “healthcare.”
She exposed the devastating consequences of this shift. “When a woman thinks she might be pregnant, one of the first things she will do is go to her GP,” she explained. “Her GP’s biases about what sort of babies should live or shouldn’t live (are) all presented as legitimate medical advice.”
Government endorsement, she said, has “completely legitimised” abortion in the minds of many. The result is pressure on hospitals to provide abortions and on medical staff to participate, whether they agree or not.
“Calling abortion healthcare provides legislative power to force hospitals to submit to a pro-abortion worldview, whether they agree with it or not.”
Hospitals Under Pressure
Roseanne pointed to recent battles over Catholic and faith-based hospitals such as Calvary Hospital in the ACT and the Mater in Newcastle, both of which resisted offering abortions until government intervened.
These institutions were vilified and pressured to conform. Even Orange Base Hospital, which tried to limit abortions to medical cases, was attacked by activists and its resistance to abortion was overruled by the NSW Health Minister.
“What happened at Orange has significant implications for all public hospitals,” Roseanne warned.
“If this now means that only people who hold a pro-abortion worldview need apply for executive positions, watch this space.”
Conscience Rights Crushed
Roseanne highlighted the impossible position for healthcare workers who object to abortion.
Quoting the Australian Nurses and Midwives Federation, she noted their advice: “Nurses, midwives, and assistants should give sincere consideration to avoiding employment where they anticipate a situation of conscientious objection may frequently arise.”
This means workers who hold a high view of life are effectively being driven out of the profession.
“The careers of conscientious objectors will become increasingly stunted as they do not offer the full range of services now expected by their profession.”
She told the story of a midwife who left after 30 years in a NSW hospital that performed late-term abortions, including maternal abortions beyond 30 weeks.
“By the time she left, she described being completely and utterly mentally spent.”
Abortion Masquerading as Medical Advice
One of Roseanne’s most powerful examples was Lisa, a young mother whose waters broke at 17 weeks.
Doctors told her termination was the only option.
“She was never advised to have an abortion,” Roseanne said. “She was bullied. She was pressured the whole time.”
Lisa resisted and went on to deliver a healthy baby at 37 weeks.
“How many young women would have trusted that hospital’s advice and aborted their child?” Roseanne asked.
The Impact on Maternity Care
Roseanne posited that abortion culture might have a correlation to the disturbing findings of the 2023 NSW Birth Trauma Inquiry.
“One in ten women reflect they have experienced obstetric violence,” she said, “and almost 30 per cent have experienced birth trauma.”
She asked whether hospitals that normalise abortion can possibly provide safe, respectful care to mothers.
“Pregnancy care and abortion are as incompatible as any two things could be,” she said. “You simply cannot have both.”
“ Now, I'm not suggesting that all birth traumas are directly attributable to abortion, but I do think there's some aspects worth considering which this inquiry did not explore whatsoever.”
A Call to Action
Roseanne closed with a challenge: “If more hospitals fall to this (‘abortion as healthcare’) ethos, many more pregnancies will be converted to abortions as unsuspecting women walk straight into its clutches.”
She urged Australians to:
Feel the weight before God of this grave injustice.
Inform ourselves and others to expose the propaganda.
Elect truth-tellers to parliament who will restore the human rights of unborn babies.
As she reminded the conference: “Once again, it is the unborn babies who are the biggest losers. No choice for hospitals, no choice for healthcare workers, and no choice for pregnant women.”
Family First thanks Roseanne Masters for her courage in exposing the deep corruption of our healthcare system by abortion culture. Her message is clear: if Australia is to protect women and their babies, we must dismantle the lie that abortion is healthcare.