The new Midland Hospital in Perth has announced it will not provide even the most basic of women’s services such as abortions, hysterectomies, contraceptive services or IVF processes.

St John of God Health Care, which was awarded a lucrative 23-year, $5 billion contract to run the new hospital, which will replace the old Swan District Hospital, said that in early talks with the government, it had advised that it would not perform abortions or provide other reproductive services. The Catholic health care company was awarded the contract regardless.

Despite the issue being raised 12 months ago, Liberal Premier Colin Barnett said he was unaware of it. It was, he said, “an oversight”. This excuse is offensive. It is well known that private clinics charge exorbitant fees, and that dangerous backyard abortions still occur.

In 2010, the premier attended a rally in support of an anti-abortion bill put forward by state Liberal MP Peter Abetz. The bill proposed that women wanting an abortion be made to view an ultrasound of their foetus and have a mandatory 48-hour “cooling off” period before proceeding.

The government’s privatisation agenda, together with scant regard for women’s welfare, means that more working class and vulnerable women will be denied affordable, accessible health care.

Western Australia is one of the few states where ambulance services are privatised; a trip to the emergency department in a St John’s ambulance will be followed by a hefty $872 bill, or $468 if it is non-urgent. At the Barnett government’s new flagship Fiona Stanley Hospital, in Perth’s southern suburbs, the contract to employ nursing assistants and hospitality staff has been awarded to Serco, the company that runs Australia’s notorious mainland asylum seeker detention centres.

Privatisation of essential services will result in a decline in the quality of public health care. It will also result in cost-cutting. In the relentless pursuit of profit, health care in WA has failed women again. If the state government were serious about providing quality health care, it would increase the number of services that public hospitals provide and keep the for-profit sector away from public hospitals. It would also make abortion safe, free and accessible.

Instead, big business is the winner and women are left behind.