Decriminalisation was meant to give Australian women access to safe, affordable abortions. But an ABC investigation has uncovered systemic failures and examples of obstruction that have denied women access to legal reproductive healthcare in remote areas. Doctors are calling it an 'unspoken ban' on abortion.
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00:00Just because abortion is legal and decriminalised doesn't mean that women will have access to
00:07abortion.
00:08We have always known that rural, regional and remote locations, women have problems
00:13accessing abortion and that is just not on anymore.
00:17It is important that everybody, every woman, no matter where she is in Australia, has the
00:21same equitable access to abortion.
00:24So why is this the case for women in rural, regional and remote Australia?
00:28What are the influences here?
00:30The influences are distance, that's one thing.
00:33We also know that there may be a concentration of doctors who may be conscientious objectors
00:39to providing abortion care, although as doctors we have a responsibility, if we are conscientious
00:45objectors, to refer women to people who will be able to provide that service.
00:50But it might be that there aren't any local providers who are not conscientious objectors.
00:55I think what this report has also uncovered is that it might not be just the doctors,
01:00it might actually be healthcare executives and people who are in decision-making roles
01:05in healthcare organisations who might have similar views and they might be the reason
01:10why women in these areas can't access abortion care.
01:14And to clarify, is the access different for medical abortions compared to surgical?
01:19There's a difference in the two because medical abortions can be provided by GPs, they can
01:24be provided by nurse practitioners, but surgical abortions usually need a higher degree of
01:29training and they usually need either a GP who has done specific training in providing
01:34surgical abortions or obstetricians, gynaecologists to provide this care.
01:39This has been called an unspoken ban, so if it's not spoken about, are you finding that
01:43women are not even aware of this till the situation presents itself?
01:48Absolutely, and I think it is very important for all healthcare providers and the government
01:54to be very clear about where abortion services are available and how women can access them.
02:00There should be information available at every state level, at every jurisdiction of how
02:05women should be able to access abortion.
02:07That's non-negotiable.
02:09So even when questions are asked, are they answered?
02:12Is there transparency here?
02:15There should be transparency.
02:16We certainly advocate for that transparency to be present.
02:19We don't always get it across the board everywhere and that is something that we should address
02:25proactively.
02:27Just this month, South Australia's upper house had only narrowly voted down a proposal that
02:31would require those wanting to terminate their pregnancy after 28 weeks to deliver their
02:35baby alive.
02:37Now we also know with the US election going on at the moment, how big an issue abortion
02:41rights are there.
02:43Do you hold fears for abortion laws in Australia?
02:47I think it is extremely important that we continue to make sure that abortion care is
02:52freely available to all women in Australia.
02:55This South Australia vote is very worrying.
02:57We should not be mixing politics with healthcare.
03:00Abortion is healthcare and that is where it should stay.
03:03The decision of abortion should sit with the woman and her healthcare provider and it should
03:08not be made a political football.
03:10Abortion is healthcare has been a political football for far too long and it is time to
03:14stop that.
03:15It is time to make sure that women get the healthcare they need.
03:18Abortion is healthcare, full stop.