The Greens intend to launch a new Senate inquiry to find out how easy or difficult it is for people to access abortion and contraception services in Australia, particularly those living in regional and remote areas.
Key points:
- The Greens say the government can do more to cover out-of-pocket costs
- The inquiry will also look more broadly at access to sexual and reproductive health
- Concerns have been raised about the spread of unofficial contraception advice on TikTok
The party said it had the numbers to carry out the inquiry, which will go to a vote on Wednesday afternoon.
If successful, the inquiry is likely to be asked to report in early 2023.
Greens women’s spokeswoman Larissa Waters said the idea for the inquiry came after Roe v Wade was overturned in the US.
“Of course the legal system is different, but it was an access issue … and it gave us reason to think about the ability of Australian women to access reproductive health, and that’s not a good thing,” she said.
“Especially in regional and rural areas, it costs a fortune and often you have to travel hundreds of kilometers to get basic medical care.”
Senator Waters said out-of-pocket reimbursement for women was one change the federal government could make.
“As possible [the government] to help coordinate and make sure that states are essentially harmonizing so that no matter where you live, you get the same quality of health care,” she said.
“Some of the leverage that the federal government can use is to ensure that public hospitals provide medical abortions and surgical abortions. They may say that there are potential funding levers, if you don’t provide basic health care, you’re not going to get federal services. dollars”.
Senator Waters said the inquiry, launched on International Safe Abortion Day, would also look more broadly at ways to increase access to other reproductive health options, such as contraception.
Four out of 10 pregnancies were unplanned, the report found
The investigation took place on the same day when the report on the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy was published and submitted to the parliament.
The report, commissioned by the global medical company Organon, which produces a range of contraceptives, showed that 40 percent of pregnancies were unplanned.
Of the women who had an unwanted pregnancy, 31 percent ended the pregnancy.
Professor Danielle Mazza, from the Center for Advanced Research in Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health in Primary Care, said there were a number of challenges surrounding access to abortion in regional Australia.
These include the time-dependent nature of the right to medical abortion, which involves taking prescription drugs, and the lack of trained general practitioners.
“It’s still a fact that many rural and regional areas of Australia don’t have GPs to provide this service,” she said.
Professor Matza said she would welcome any process that sheds light on access issues and offers real policy solutions.
“So knowing that it’s important to focus on training and supporting practitioners, increasing women’s knowledge and understanding of the services available to them, and exploring the costs women bear and possible policy solutions to this,” she said.
The report also estimated that the cost of unplanned pregnancy was $7.2 billion in 2020, with the majority of the costs — 56 percent — borne by women, 37 percent by the government, 3 percent by employers, and 5 percent outside the country. – caregivers at home.
Direct costs included out-of-pocket costs and government subsidies through Medicare and hospital funding, while indirect costs included childcare subsidies, childcare fees, paid parental leave and lost earnings.
Professor Mazza said the findings highlighted the need to make sure women knew about and had access to contraception that was right for them.
Concerns about TikTok videos
Both Professor Matza and Senator Waters urged people not to listen to advice from people on TikTok and other social media about which contraception to use or stay away from.
There are thousands of videos and posts on TikTok and Instagram from people discussing the benefits of non-hormonal contraception or “natural birth control”.
Prof Matza said it was important for women to find a contraceptive option that worked for them, but it was frustrating to see people taking advice from strangers that could be unfounded.
“Like so many things happening around the world right now, people are not listening to the evidence and not having access to science-based information,” she said.
“I think that when we talk about health issues, particularly women’s sexual and reproductive health, we have to consider that the information that health professionals give is likely to be more fact-based than the information that can be found in TikTok as a result of social influences and the two do not necessarily have the same truth.”
Senator Waters said access to contraceptive information would be part of the inquiry.
“It would be a big concern if people were getting health information from TikTok… let’s make sure this inquiry can identify what barriers are standing in people’s way of getting the health-based information they need so they can make the best choice for yourself,” she said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-28/greens-senate-inquiry-abortion-contraceptives-access-australia/101481910
