Around 40% of Australian pregnancies are unintended. Of those, approximately 30% end in abortion, with most terminations occurring before 12 weeks into the pregnancy.
Professor Danielle Mazza is the of Head of General Practice at Monash University.
She says previously strict abortion laws have been increasingly relaxed over the past few years.
“Abortion is now decriminalised in Australia which means that it is a legal procedure and is able to be accessed through the healthcare system. The issue is that legal doesn’t mean available. It’s one thing to make it legal and it’s another thing to have it available and accessible to women, because the availability of it depends on the workforce to be able to provide it.”
A decade ago, most abortions were surgical, and performed in private facilities.
With medical termination now offered as an alternative, accessibility is gradually increasing. However, only 10% of GPs are registered to prescribe the required medication.
And the pathways to these services are not always easy to navigate.
Abortion legislation is state based, so there are minor differences depending on where you live, Professor Mazza explains.
“Victoria is the most liberal in terms of its laws. But other states have, for example, gestational limits as to how far into the pregnancy an abortion is allowed. States have rules around who can give authority for an abortion once it’s occurring late in the pregnancy, say beyond 20 weeks.”
Abortion laws ensure that women have rights when speaking with their doctor, no matter how difficult the conversation.
