'Unfit' mothers may risk losing unborn babies
The Department for Child Protection - under the new radical government policy - will seize babies from unfit mothers before they are even born.
The new policy works by forcing mothers-to-be who are 20-weeks-or-more pregnant to give urine samples, to show they are free from drugs, and also provide proof they have permanent place of residence.
Child-removal protocols follow if the mothers fail to adhere to the guidelines of the child-protection's new regulations.
If the mothers are proven unfit, the paperwork will be completed before the birth, and the child can be placed into state care or taken in by a relative, after the baby is born.
However, Abortion Grief Australia is worried the new approach may trigger an increase in early terminations or suicide among the expectant mothers.
Terry Murphy, director-general of the Department for Child Protection says early intervention may offer vulnerable mothers better opportunity of keeping their babies as they will have earlier access to help.
Mothers have to go through regular urine check during pregnancy to prove they are drug- and alcohol-free in order to keep their babies.
They must also prove they have permanent place of stay, are not in dangerous domestic relationship and are able to care and feed their baby properly.