Greens MP and Albury GP Amanda Cohn (centre) campaigns for abortion access in rural NSW. Photo: Facebook.
A new bill has been introduced into NSW parliament that would allow nurses and midwives to prescribe abortions.
The legislation has been tabled by Albury-based Greens MP and former GP Amanda Cohn, who has long campaigned for greater access to pregnancy termination.
“The bill is about making sure people can access abortion services when and where they need them, across NSW,” she said.
“It would allow nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives to prescribe medical abortion, as recommended by the Therapeudic Goods Administration [TGA], require local health districts to ensure accessibility of abortion services, remove onerous and bureaucratic mandatory reporting requirements for health professionals, and require health practitioners with a conscientious objection to refer a patient to an abortion provider.”
Dr Cohn’s bill comes after fierce debate over why it is so hard to access an abortion in regional areas, including in the Riverina where there are no public facilities that provide surgical abortions and very few medical practitioners accredited to administer medical pregnancy terminations.
“It’s unacceptable that it’s so hard to access abortion in the Riverina, especially for people who can’t afford private services or travel to Wodonga or Canberra,” Dr Cohn said.
“The bill would support people in the Riverina to access abortion care closer to home.”
If passed, the new legislation would allow nurse practitioners and enrolled midwives with appropriate training to prescribe medical abortions, per TGA guidelines, up to nine weeks gestation; remove some mandatory reporting requirements for practitioners; oblige local health districts to ensure abortion services are provided at no cost, and with publicly available information on how to access abortion in each local health district; and require practitioners with a conscientious objection to refer a patient.
Dr Cohn’s bill is in response to the release of a NSW Health review into the first five years since decriminalisation of abortion, which contains findings from stakeholder feedback and recommendations, including:
- Amending current legislation to allow nurse practitioners, endorsed midwives, and other registered health practitioners to prescribe and provide services in line with TGA guidelines
- Parts of the current legislation relating to conscientious objection and referral requirements are not believed to be being implemented appropriately, adhered to, and are creating significant barriers to access
- Mandatory reporting requirements for medical practitioners are seen as onerous and unnecessary.
In order to be passed, the new bill would require the support of one of the major parties, Labor or Liberal.
Original Article published by Oliver Jacques on Region Riverina.
