Abortion is now legal across Australia – but it’s still hard to access. Doctors are both the problem and the solution

December 5, 2023
Barbara Baird, Associate Professor, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University

Abortion is now fully legal in every jurisdiction in Australia. Western Australia became the last state to decriminalise it just two months ago, in September 2023. And the Australian population is solidly pro-choice: a 2021 study found 76% of Australians support access to abortion.

Yet access to abortion care here has been described as a “lottery” in a 2023 Senate inquiry report. My research into abortion provision in Australia over the past 30 years doesn’t describe chance, but an inadequate system.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/abortion-is-now-legal-across-australia-but-its-still-hard-to-access-doctors-are-both-the-problem-and-the-solution-216278


Queensland introduces Australian-first law to allow midwives and nurses to prescribe abortion pills

Exclusive: Legislation hailed as big step towards providing fair access to terminations across state

Eden Gillespie
Thu 30 Nov 2023

Queensland will become Australia’s first jurisdiction to introduce a law to allow nurses and midwives to dispense pregnancy termination medication in a move expected to improve access in the state’s “huge abortion deserts”.

In August the Therapeutic Goods Administration scrapped restrictions on the prescription of medical abortion pills, known as MS-2 Step, to be used in the early stages of pregnancy. But it is up to individual jurisdictions to determine the specific healthcare practitioner and the appropriate qualifications for prescribing.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/30/queensland-law-abortion-pills-midwives-nurses-prescribed-details


Home test that checks if an abortion has worked reduces follow-up surgery, study finds

A successful Australian trial of a urine test to detect whether an abortion has worked will be welcomed by rural and remote patients, say clinicians

Natasha May
Wed 16 Aug 2023

A home test that checks whether a drug-induced abortion has worked is not only safe but reduces rates of unnecessary follow-up surgery, an Australian-first study has found.

People who attend clinics to access medication to terminate a pregnancy, known as a medical abortion, usually need to see a doctor 14 days later and may undergo a blood test to examine levels of a hormone known as hCG, along with an ultrasound to rule out complications.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/16/home-test-that-checks-if-an-abortion-has-worked-reduces-follow-up-surgery-study-finds


Australia – Expanded abortion access ‘removes suspicion’ for GPs

by ANNIKA HOWELLS
InSight Plus, Issue 26
17 July 2023

Major changes to the prescribing and dispensing requirements for a medical abortion pill will remove red tape for primary care practitioners and increase access for women across Australia.

General practitioners have been reassured they no longer need to feel “suspicious” about the red tape surrounding the prescribing of the medical abortion pill, a prominent GP has said, after the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) removed a number of restrictions in prescribing and dispensing the medical abortion pill MS-2 Step (mifepristone and misoprostol).

Continued: https://insightplus.mja.com.au/2023/26/expanded-abortion-access-removes-suspicion-for-gps/


Australia – The game-changing plan to cut barriers to medical abortion

By Nell Geraets
January 16, 2023

A push is under way to make medical abortion more accessible across Australia by cutting down the regulatory barriers around who can prescribe the pill combination and where it can be stocked.

Non-profit pharmaceutical company MS Health – the private sponsor behind medical abortion in Australia – submitted applications to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in December that proposed expanding the number of health practitioners eligible to prescribe the medication, and removing the requirements for recertification and pharmacist registration.

Continued: https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-game-changing-plan-to-cut-barriers-to-medical-abortion-20230108-p5cb2i.html


Victorian doctors call for better abortion access, with US set to overturn Roe v Wade

ABC Goulburn Murray / By Anna Chisholm
May 31, 2022

"My heart sank," Amanda Kelly said.

The chief executive of Women's Health Goulburn North East was aimlessly scrolling on her phone when she read the news.

Roe versus Wade, the landmark ruling which in 1973 granted Americans the constitutional right to an abortion, was set to be overturned by the US Supreme court, a leaked document had revealed.

Continued: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-31/abortion-rights-victoria-in-focus-america-roe-v-wade/101110872


A Supplier Refused To Fill A Face Mask Order For An Australian Abortion Provider Because They’re For “Health Professionals”

A Supplier Refused To Fill A Face Mask Order For An Australian Abortion Provider Because They're For "Health Professionals"
Exclusive: Marie Stopes Australia says it only has two weeks worth of face masks left as orders are cancelled in the coronavirus pandemic.

Posted on April 6, 2020,
Gina Rushton, BuzzFeed News Reporter, Australia

Australia's largest abortion provider says its supply of face masks and hand sanitiser for carrying out surgical abortions will only last two more weeks after a number of orders from private personal protective equipment (PPE) providers were cancelled or refused in the coronavirus pandemic.

In one instance, a private company cancelled an order from Marie Stopes Australia (MSA) on the basis it was reserving supplies for "health professionals".

Continued: https://www.buzzfeed.com/ginarushton/face-masks-running-low-abortion-marie-stopes-australia


It’s time to lift the restrictions on medical abortion in Australia

It's time to lift the restrictions on medical abortion in Australia

by Caroline De Costa, The Conversation
April 1, 2019

Over the past thirteen years, many Australian women have used the drug mifepristone (RU486) to bring about a medical abortion.

Rather than undergoing a surgical abortion in a clinic or hospital operating theatre, a medical abortion is induced by taking drugs prescribed by a doctor.

continued: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-04-restrictions-medical-abortion-australia.html


Australia – A Postal Abortion Service That Sent RU486 To Thousands Of Women Is Shutting Down

A Postal Abortion Service That Sent RU486 To Thousands Of Women Is Shutting Down
Exclusive: the service named after former prime minister Tony Abbott is no longer financially viable.

Posted on March 20, 2019

A national postal abortion service has shut down after almost four years, leaving women across the country with fewer options to terminate a pregnancy using abortion drugs RU486.

The Tabbot Foundation was founded in Sept. 2015 by Dr Paul Hyland, who said his service had provided medical terminations to around 6,000 Australian women living "as far east as Lord Howe Island and as far west as Rottnest Island".

Continued: https://www.buzzfeed.com/ginarushton/tabbot-foundation-abortion-ru486