Medical abortion: the Australian experience

Early medical abortion — available and safe

“…Our results, and those published by others, show that mifepristone–misoprostol home abortion is safe, effective and acceptable to Australian women 4 , 8 , 9 . We believe mifepristone can be safely used for EMA by any appropriately trained doctor in Australia, provided there is access to services where spontaneous miscarriage can be safely managed.…”

“…A large majority of the women reported in the current study were < 7 weeks. It is well documented that later gestations are associated with more bleeding and pain, and a higher rate of complications 3 , 9 . The maximum gestation for safe home abortion is 9 weeks; at later gestations, medical abortion must take place in hospital 1 .…”

Making it legal: Abortion providers' knowledge and use of abortion law in New South Wales and Queensland

“…The clandestine importation and home use of these drugs in Australia without medical oversight is not recommended and has been condemned by the Australian Medical Association. 17 In 2012, a doctor faced disciplinary proceedings in Queensland in relation to supplying instructions to women via the Internet about how to achieve a termination of pregnancy without medical supervision. 25 However, the drugs are effective and relatively safe in early pregnancy; misoprostol in particular has been credited with reducing mortality from unsafe surgical abortion in countries in Africa and South America where abortion remains illegal.…”

“…Between April 2006 and 30th August 2012, mifepristone could only be obtained by individual practitioners through the TGA's Authorised Prescriber scheme. [15][16][17] On 30th August 2012, the TGA announced that approval to market the drug nationally had been given to MS Health, a company related to the Dr Marie (Marie Stopes International) group of clinics. 18 Also, over the past thirty years, there has been extensive development of techniques for the diagnosis of fetal abnormality, which can provide definitive diagnoses at gestations well before the point of fetal viability outside the uterus.…”

What makes the substantive representation of women possible in a Westminster parliament? The story of RU486 in Australia

“…It was a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at a North Queensland university campus, Professor Caroline de Costa, who began campaigning to lift the ban on RU486. In 2005, she published an article in the Medical Journal of Australia, highlighting the plight of women in rural Australia unable to access terminations even when medically indicated (de Costa, 2005(de Costa, , 2007. On the day the article was published, the Australian Medical Association and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists issued supporting statements.…”