A Christian GP says he sympathises with a Victorian doctor who’s being investigated by the Medical Board for failing to refer on a patient who sought to abort their baby on gender selection grounds.

The doctor under investigation, Dr Mark Hobart, who is Catholic, refused to assist with an abortion for a couple who didn’t want their 19 week old baby girl because she wasn’t a boy, according to a report by News Ltd’s Herald Sun.

Victorian law was amended in 2008 so that doctors with a conscientious objection to abortion have to refer patients seeking advice about a proposed abortion, or wanting them to perform, direct, authorise or supervise an abortion, onto a doctor who will assist with their request.

Dr Jereth Kok, a Christian GP from Melbourne told Eternity Christian doctors are ethically hamstrung by the law.

“You are forced to choose between doing what is right by your conscience or obeying the law. You can’t do both. If you follow your conscience, and you are reported to the Medical Board, you could face reprimand or suspension of your registration, which means you can’t work anymore.

“It means a lot of anxiety. When you see that your next patient in the waiting room is a 19 year old female who you have never seen before, you worry she is going to ask you for an abortion, and then you are going to have to face that choice: to obey God or Caesar.”

Dr Hobart says he couldn’t have found a colleague willing to recommend the termination, which Dr Kok says is a valid claim.

“Because it was 19 weeks and it was for gender selection, there would be no doctors anywhere who would be prepared to assist that.

“If it is was at nine weeks and they ‘just don’t want a baby now’, there would be other doctors out there who will assist.”

“But regardless of whether you know someone who might assist, no doctor who believes that human life is precious can in good conscience refer a patient towards having an abortion.”

Family Voice Australia has recently put together a petition signed by 4000 Victorians calling on the Victorian Government to change the law to allow doctor’s greater freedom of conscience.

Pastor Peter Stevens, Victoria State Officer for Family Voice says there is a large section of Victorian society which would like to see the laws changed.

“Over the past year, I have heard from many Victorians who are aghast at the injustice of Section 8 of Victoria’s Abortion Law Reform Act,” Pastor Stevens said. For some years, doctors have spoken out against the removal of their right to conscientious objection. There is a strong community desire for law reform in this area.

“The state-sponsored persecution of Dr Mark Hobart is an outrage. Our parliament should act urgently to overturn this injustice.”

Dr Kok argues in the end it’s women and babies who are being harmed by the law, because doctors are afraid to deal in depth with the woman’s decision to abort.

“It means that when you do get asked about abortion (or for advice about abortion) you feel intimidated and afraid about what might happen, so you aim to end the consultation as quickly as possible, and get yourself out of potential trouble.

“This probably means you won’t provide the kind of good quality care to your patient that you should. You are less inclined to speak to her about her circumstances, the pressures she is under, and so on. There is too much risk; it is safer just to not get involved.”

The doctor accused of breaking the law has yet to find out the details of the complaint.