Australia: Over-the-phone abortion service safe and effective, review finds

Over-the-phone abortion service safe and effective, review finds

Kate Aubusson
5 Apr 2017

An over-the-phone abortion service has been providing Australian women with a safe and effective way of terminating pregnancies, a preliminary review has found.

The Tabbot Foundation gave more than 1800 women access to medical abortions without the need for a face-to-face doctor consultation over 18 months.

Its founders say the service allows women to avoid the potential for stigma and judgment harboured by some healthcare professionals and anti-abortion protesters at family planning clinics.

Continued at source: Cowra Guardian: http://www.cowraguardian.com.au/story/4578615/over-the-phone-abortion-service-safe-and-effective-review-finds/?cs=7

05.04.2017

This could change the way Australian women get access to abortions

This could change the way Australian women get access to abortions
By Felicity Nethery
April 5, 2017

An over-the-phone abortion service has been given an early tick of approval, after an independent preliminary review deemed the service to be a safe and effective way of terminating pregnancies for Australian women.

Since being approved in September 2015, the Tabbot Foundation has provided more than 1,800 women access to medical abortions without the need for a face-to-face doctor or psychologist consultation.

The telephone service allows women to be assessed over the phone and then prescribed the abortion drug mifepristone, or RU486, which is then posted out at a cost of about $250.

The Tabbot Foundation phone service has received some backslash during its 18 months of operation. However, an independent review of the first 1,000 women who used the service found it was comparable to that of medical abortions offered in person at existing clinics.

Continued at source: 9Honey News: http://honey.nine.com.au/2017/04/06/12/25/review-finds-over-the-phone-abortion-service-safe-and-effective

05.04.2017

Australia: Abortion decriminalised in Northern Territory after long campaign

Abortion decriminalised in Northern Territory after long campaign

Labor-led parliament votes 20 to four to amend Medical Services Act and widen access to RU486 termination drug

Helen Davidson in Darwin
@heldavidson

Wednesday 22 March 2017

The Northern Territory has decriminalised abortion and widened access for women, including use of the RU486 termination drug.

After a years-long public campaign and failed attempts during the previous administration, the Labor-led parliament voted 20 votes to four on Tuesday in favour of a bill to amend the NT Medical Services Act and the criminal code. Labor members were given a conscience vote.

Continued at source: The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/22/abortion-decriminalised-in-northern-territory-after-long-campaign

Australia: Complicated abortion laws are driving women to buy termination drugs online

Tory Shepherd, Political Editor, The Advertiser
September 27, 2016 8:00am

COMPLICATED abortion laws are driving women to buy termination drugs online, a report released today reveals.

Some women face serious barriers to safe, affordable abortions, while the drugs for a home abortion are easy to find on Facebook.

Every state and territory has different, complicated abortion laws, and the Federal Government has bogged down abortion drugs in red tape, university researchers say. That and possibly fear of controversy have led to doctors’ reluctance to sign up to provide medical abortions.

Women, particularly those in rural and regional Australia and from vulnerable groups, can face geographical, financial and legal barriers to both surgical and medical procedures (which use the drugs misoprostol and mifepristone, also called RU486).

[continued at link]
Source: The Advertiser

27.09.2016

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme