By Emma Pollard
Monday 22 September
Women having miscarriages say they were denied surgical care at the public Mater Mothers’ Hospital in Brisbane because of its religious policies on abortion.
Two women have told ABC News they ended up going to an abortion clinic because the Catholic-run hospital, which receives some taxpayer funding, would not provide them with a surgical procedure when they were having what’s called a missed miscarriage.
A proposal to improve access to abortion services could soon become law. So what’s in the bill – and why has it caused heated debate?
Natasha May Health reporter
Tue 13 May 2025
New South Wales decriminalised abortion in 2019 – but it’s still inaccessible for many people in the state.
In February, the Greens NSW spokesperson for health, Dr Amanda Cohn, introduced a new bill in the state’s upper house seeking to amend the Abortion Law Reform Act 2019 to improve access to services, particularly in regional and rural parts of the state where there are vast abortion deserts.
The bill’s second and third readings last week prompted heated debate in parliament. It also spilled out on to the steps, with an anti-abortion rally attended by prominent campaigners, including the former prime minister Tony Abbott.
Exclusive by national regional affairs reporter Lucy Barbour
Thursday 7 November
An explicit ban on abortions for non-medical reasons has been laid down by the executive of a regional New South Wales public hospital, the ABC can reveal.
A leaked document shows that staff at Orange Health Service in Central West NSW can no longer provide abortions for patients with "no identified pregnancy complications".
The RACGP has signed a joint statement expressing concerns over plans to recriminalise abortion, labelling it a ‘harmful step backward’.
21 Oct 2024
Chelsea Heaney
Abortion legislation has become an unexpected fixture in the Queensland election after one politician announced they would be introducing a repeal bill. Debate over abortion access ahead of the Queensland election this weekend has triggered a cross-organisational response, with several peak health bodies labelling any roll backs in protections ‘not only regressive but dangerous’.
On Monday, the RACGP released a joint statement alongside the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG), True Relationships and Reproductive Health Queensland, Queensland Sexual Assault Network, Women’s Health Services Alliance Queensland, Family Planning Alliance Australia, and Children by Choice.
Continued: https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/health-bodies-call-for-end-to-regressive-qld-abort
By Q+A and RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas
Oct 20, 2024
Fierce debates about abortion have been raging in two Australian states during the past few weeks, leaving many scratching their heads wondering why it's suddenly part of Australian political discourse again.
In Australia, all states and territories have decriminalised abortion, but in the United States it's a different matter. Since 2022, 21 states have banned or restricted abortion to lower than the standard set by Roe v Wade, which protected reproductive rights for nearly half a century until it was spectacularly dumped by the Supreme Court.
The guidance has been described as an ‘important step’ towards universal access to safe and high-quality abortion care.
Jolyon Attwooll
06 Nov 2023
A new clinical guideline developed by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) has been released.
Targeted at registered health professionals who provide abortion advice and care in both Australia and New Zealand, the document is the first binational guideline on abortion.
Continued: https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/new-clinical-guideline-for-abortion-care-released
2 NOVEMBER 2023
By HELEN TOBLER
Australia’s first clinical guidelines outline how to confirm gestational age and abortion completion, as well pain relief and other management.
New clinical guidelines back medical abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, but women’s access may be curtailed by state laws and hospital support.
Continued: https://www.medicalrepublic.com.au/medical-abortions-okayed-for-first-and-second-trimester/101838
The RACGP has said a new evidence-based abortion care guideline will support clinicians involved in reproductive healthcare.
Jolyon Attwooll
06 Sep 2023
The RACGP has expressed its support for a draft clinical guideline on abortion care compiled by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG).
In a response sent to RANZCOG last week, the college said the guideline is detailed and will support GPs involved in reproductive healthcare.
Continued: https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/racgp-backs-comprehensive-abortion-care-guideline
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/
Insight Plus, Issue 13 / 11 April 2022
Cate Swannell
AROUND 2000 repeat medical abortions per year could be averted if women were routinely prescribed long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) immediately following early medical abortion.
That’s the message from Australian researchers, published in the MJA, who found that just one in four women were provided with hormonal contraception within 60 days of their early medical abortion.
Continued: https://insightplus.mja.com.au/2022/13/repeat-abortions-narrowing-the-contraception-gap/
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