In NSW, we are fortunate that access to reproductive healthcare is no longer a political hot topic.
Abortion was decriminalised under a Liberal government in 2019, to be treated as a healthcare matter and not a potential crime requiring a legal exemption.
But, as Kate Aubusson writes in today’s Sun-Herald, the decriminalisation of abortion in this state has been complex. And just because a woman cannot be prosecuted for terminating a pregnancy, it does not mean she can do so safely.
Vulnerable women are being made to search well into their second trimester for access to abortion services.
The issue is that, while abortion is legal, it is still overwhelmingly accessed through private clinics. Despite a directive from NSW Health that all public hospitals must offer clear referral pathways for timely pregnancy terminations, only one hospital in the state – John Hunter in Newcastle – has a formal, funded surgical abortion service, predominantly for women in their first trimester.
Doctors at Westmead Hospital, in the city’s west, are concerned women are ticking over 15 weeks gestation while they sit on waitlists for private clinics they can’t afford.
They are providing surgical abortion services for those they can, but with no dedicated referral pathway or clinic, and packed surgical lists, some are going without. The alternative, a second trimester medical abortion, can be traumatic for both the woman and clinicians involved.
They have provided Western Sydney Local Health District with a business case for a dedicated clinic for these women, to provide what could be a hub for public services for the entire state.
University of Sydney Professor Kirsten Black notes that if well-funded and accessible, first trimester services will help to prevent the issue of second trimester terminations – in Sweden, she notes, women present early to free, public abortion services.
Decriminalisation was a good first step, but the job is not done. Our public hospitals must heed the directive from NSW Health and ensure safe access to abortion services is prioritised.
Read the full article here
