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But the MPs, who also included Tony Pasin and Henry Pike, raised concerns that the government’s eligibility criteria included situations where there had been a medical abortion and a qualified practitioner confirmed the definition of a stillborn child was met. Pasin, a conservative MP from South Australia, said it was “clear in the title of the leave”. “Paid parental leave ... It should be available to people who wish to be parents, but for the grace of God, have not become parents through that incident or outcome,” he said. “But it shouldn’t be available to people who don’t wish to be parents.” Health Minister Mark Butler said the debate caused distress in the community. “To try to conflate the two things is, I think, a very cynical, deeply distressing political exercise,” he said on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing program.
