Following recommendations from on abortion as health care, Greens MLC Dr Amanda Cohn has introduced a bill that, if passed, would significantly expand access to abortion services across the state.听
According to (FPA), almost one in three NSW local government areas do not have a doctor trained to provide medical abortions. Cohn said only three of 220 public hospitals are consistently providing abortion services.
Its December report, , found that women in regional and rural NSW seek medical abortion at more than double the rate of women living in the city.
鈥淚n remote NSW there were 10 medical abortion prescriptions issued for every 1000 women in 2022, and in major cities there were just 4.2 medical abortion prescriptions for every 1000 women.鈥
FPA鈥檚 Dr Emmalee Ford said 37 local government areas have no doctor providing medical abortion scripts. 鈥淭his represents 28% of all local government areas across NSW and most of them are in rural and regional areas.鈥澛
While FPA said it can offer medical abortion to some pregnant people through telehealth, improving access for people in rural and regional areas, more local doctors offering medical abortions in non-metropolitan areas are still needed.
More recently, reports that public hospitals in Queanbeyan and Orange refused to provide abortion services sent shock waves through the community.
The has, since 2023, been calling on the government to 鈥渁dequately resources abortion services at public hospitals鈥.
鈥淵our postcode should not determine your ability to attain an abortion,鈥 AMA (NSW) Vice President Dr Kathryn Austin said four years after the was passed.
The review of the recommended the government amend the law to expand the list of practitioners, balance the rights of women to receive timely care and treatment with practitioners鈥櫬燾onscientious objections and improve data collection to support better planning, rather than the onerous and unnecessary mandatory reporting in place.
Cohn introduced the 聽to the Legislative Council on February 19.听鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing in the [current] act that says this is health care and it鈥檚 a responsibility of NSW Health to provide,鈥 Cohn said, meaning that people are being forced to delay treatment, travel hundreds of kilometres, or pay hundreds, even thousands of dollars, to access private care.
Hospitals, even public ones, are under no obligation to provide this health measure, . 鈥淲e鈥檝e heard absolutely heart-wrenching stories of people being turned away from public hospitals.鈥
The bill aims to ensure abortion services are provided across the state, within a reasonable distance of residents鈥 homes, and that information about access to abortion services is made publicly available.
It would expand access by allowing nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives to prescribe medical abortions up to nine weeks gestation, as per Therapeutic Goods Administration guidelines. It would remove unnecessary mandatory reporting requirements that create barriers for practitioners and require practitioners who object to abortion to refer a patient to someone who will provide the service.
While the health minister had intervened on a case-by-case basis when hospitals have refused to provide the service, Cohn said that鈥檚 not enough. 鈥淚t needs to be legislated.鈥澛 that a majority of cities and towns are 鈥渁bortion deserts鈥, meaning the nearest service is more than 160 kilometres away.
鈥淎bortion services are not something public hospitals with the capability to provide them should be able to opt out of,鈥 Cohn, herself a General Practitioner, said.
The Greens鈥 bill would make the system work better for patients and health workers, Cohn said, provided that the state also adequately supports health workers providing the care. She told Lawyers Weekly on May that the bill would not force faith-based hospitals to provide abortion, 鈥渘or does it provide any mechanisms for hospitals to be closed鈥.
Nevertheless, that if the bill becomes law hospitals would be forced to close.听Sydney Law School lecturer Christopher Rudge told that private Christian and Catholic hospitals would not be affected because the bill only applied only to public health organisations defined as local health districts, statutory health corporations or affiliated health organisations under the聽Health Services Act.听
The bill would alter, but not remove, the right of a registered health practitioner to conscientiously object to performing an abortion. They would, however, be required to either transfer the person鈥檚 care to another non-objecting practitioner or health service, or provide information to the person information do do it themselves.
[This article was updated on May 7.]