THE Coalition has pledged not to change rules allowing the import of the abortion pill RU486, as Labor seeks to draw the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, into a debate about abortion.
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The Health Minister, Tanya Plibersek, said the Coalition needed to make its position on RU486 clear, as the approval last month for its importation had been possible because the applicant knew the Gillard government would not interfere in the process.
A spokesman for Mr Abbott responded that ''administration of RU486, as with other drugs, is a matter for the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Coalition will not change that''.
As health minister in the Howard government, Mr Abbott continued a veto that effectively banned RU486.
But Mr Abbott failed to retain that power and it was returned to the Therapeutic Goods Administration in 2006 after a fierce parliamentary debate that split both major parties. Since he became the Coalition leader, Mr Abbott has said he does not want to change abortion laws.
Mr Abbott and his health spokesman, Peter Dutton, refused to comment last month after the reproductive health group Marie Stopes International was approved to import RU486 - a decision likely to make the drug much more widely available than it has been.
When asked about the issue on the ABC's Q&A program on Monday night, the leader of opposition business, Christopher Pyne, said the advice from the Department of Health had been ''that RU486 was and is a dangerous drug and the recommendation was that it should not be approved for use in Australia''.
Mr Pyne also said that Mr Abbott ''has no intention of going anywhere near the abortion laws, which, by the way, are state-based laws''.
In a speech to the parliamentary group for population and development today, Ms Plibersek will say Marie Stopes was able to apply to bring in the drug because they knew ''this government would not politically interfere in the TGA assessment of these drugs''.
''RU486 has met safety, quality and efficacy standards required by the TGA for all medicines. RU486 is on the World Health Organisation list of essential medicines,'' Ms Plibersek will say. ''Over the last two decades tens of millions of women have used RU486. Now Australian women will have the same right to choose.''
In 2005, Mr Abbott cited advice from the chief medical officer to explain his refusal to approve the drug but others disputed both the advice and its interpretation.
In an angry speech to Parliament yesterday, the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, also said she had been ''very offended'' when the Leader of the Opposition said ''abortion is the easy way out'', a reference to a comment by Mr Abbott in 2004.
Only doctors who complete training about the drugs will be able to prescribe RU486 and Marie Stopes is now considering applying to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee to have the drugs listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
A spokesman for the Australian Christian Lobby said there remain ''big question marks over the safety of RU486'' and evidence of a significant number of complications in women using it. The group said it would continue to lobby against it.
