Clinic 66 is often forced to turn down women from all over the state and highway because they can’t keep up with demand.
“We try to fit in as many women as possible, but when it comes to complications, it’s just not safe to (perform an abortion) in a private day operation,” she said.
“If a certain personality is the leader of that team, then a woman just won’t get through.”
Dr. Emma Boulton, Director of Sexual Health Practice Clinic 66
Anna Noonan, a University of Sydney researcher who studies access to abortion in western NSW, said there was an unspoken rule in some public hospitals about who deserved an abortion or not.
“If it’s a non-viable pregnancy or a miscarriage, don’t worry. If it’s a rape or assault circumstance, we’re told they’ll do it sometime. Why must there be a reason? That’s the problem, and that’s the hardest thing to change,” Noonan said.
“We hear of people carrying pregnancies to term who don’t feel they can manage and care for (a child) simply because they can’t access abortion services.
Loading
“The consequences for the woman, the family, the potential child and the community are immense. That is extremely unacceptable.”
Professor Deborah Bateson, from the University of Sydney and co-founder of the advocacy group Clinicians for Choice, said hospitals are not the ideal environment for treating early abortions but it is crucial to have transparent pathways to public hospitals for surgical abortions for women who needed them.
Data from MSI Australia (formerly Marie Stopes Australia) shows that 78 percent of the abortions the clinics provide are less than nine weeks.
Family doctors were best placed to provide these through medical abortion (taking medication to induce a miscarriage), Bateson said. Yet fewer than 1,500 of Australia’s 37,000 GPs are certified medical abortion prescribers nationally.
“We know that GPs don’t feel supported to perform medical abortions if they don’t have that public hospital access if someone who doesn’t qualify or exceeds the pregnancy limit (of nine weeks) for a medical abortion or is a complication,” says Bateson . said.
A review by NSW Health is underway to improve access to reproductive health services, particularly in rural areas and the NSW region.
A spokesperson for Women’s and Regional Health Secretary Bronnie Taylor said she would ask NSW Health to complete a current review of options to expand public abortion and reproductive health services as a matter of priority.
“Access to reproductive health care, including safe termination of pregnancy, is a human right and crucial to promoting and protecting women’s health,” the spokesperson said.
Labor NSW health spokesman Ryan Park said Labor, if elected, would ensure that women seeking a layoff have safe and clear access to abortion.
“Women have a legal right to safe and accessible terminations in NSW and the government has failed to ensure that we have a clear and transparent pathway for women in our public hospitals,” Park said.
Loading
Greens spokesperson for Women’s Rights, Member of Parliament Jenny Leong, said it was unacceptable that three years after abortion was decriminalized, women seeking abortion are facing huge barriers.
“Letting our public health care system struggle without funding is an anti-choice, political choice,” Leong said.
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights of the day. Register here.
