To the Honourable the President and Members of the Senate in Parliament assembled.

The Petition of the undersigned draws to the attention of the Senate the lack of regulation of pregnancy counselling in Australia.

Some pregnancy counselling services which are anti-choice give the impression in advertising material that they provide information on the three pregnancy options (keeping the child, termination, and adoption), when they do not. Such pregnancy counselling services have also been known to provide misleading information about the risks associated with abortion and to refuse to provide referrals for abortion.

Pregnancy counselling services which do not charge for the information they provide are not subject to the Trade Practices Act, which means they are not prohibited from engaging in misleading or deceptive advertising.

Your petitioners believe:

(a)   Women have the right to know what sort of pregnancy counselling service they are contacting (ie anti-choice or non-directive) when they seek information about whether or not to continue a pregnancy;

(b)   Misleading information provided by some anti-choice pregnancy counselling services has caused unnecessary distress for many women considering terminating their pregnancies; and,

(c)   The Federal Government should urgently move to regulate pregnancy counselling in Australia to ensure the counselling provided is objective, non-directive, and includes information on all three pregnancy options.

Your petitioners therefore request the Senate urge the Government to regulate pregnancy counselling in Australia (including banning misleading and deceptive advertising).