From mid-2023, Canberra residents will have access to free medical and surgical abortions up to 16 weeks’ gestation.
Key points:
- ACT Women’s Minister Yvette Berry says the move will allow Canberrans to “make a choice … without being swayed by financial barriers”.
- There will also be free access to abortion services for ACT residents without a Medicare card
- The government hopes the services will be available without out-of-pocket costs by the middle of next year
The ACT Government said the decision to remove out-of-pocket costs for abortion services ensured Canberrans who became pregnant could “make decisions about their health care based on what [was] better for them and their bodies.”
“This means people will be supported to decide to have an abortion without being influenced by financial barriers,” ACT Women’s Minister Yvette Berry said.
“It also means that having an abortion can happen in a time-sensitive manner without being delayed by an inability to pay.”
These services will be accessible to people without a Medicare card, and all those who use abortion services will also be able to receive free, long-acting, reversible contraception at the time of abortion, which the government says has been shown to reduce the demand for abortions. in the future.
The initiative to eliminate out-of-pocket costs will cost the government $4.6 million over four years and aims to improve access to affordable and accessible health services as part of the ACT Women’s Plan 2016-26.
Ms Berry said it was the latest in a series of moves to improve access to safe and accessible abortion services after the procedure was decriminalized in the ACT in 2002.
A more recent change included banning protesters outside abortion clinics in 2016.
ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said she was proud of the government’s latest commitment.
“With an estimated one in three women experiencing an unexpected pregnancy in their lifetime, it’s essential that these services are safe, affordable and accessible, no matter how much money you have,” she said.
Free services will be available in mid-2023
Melissa Ryan, manager of the nursing unit at the Marie Stopes clinic, says cost is a huge barrier for people accessing abortion. (ABC News: Emma Groves)
The Marie Stopes Clinic is the only organization in the ACT that provides abortions outside the Canberra hospital system.
The clinic’s acting nursing unit manager, Melissa Ryan, said the government’s decision was a long time coming.
“Cost is a huge, huge barrier [to abortion]” Mrs. Ryan said.
“People without Medicare or here on temporary visas have no funding.
“[Abortion] it is essential for the health of women and all pregnant people; even access to contraception should be much easier than it is and this will help prevent unwanted pregnancies.”
He said it was important for Australia to provide greater access to abortion services, given the global discussion sparked by the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade.
“I’d like to think it played a role in that funding,” he said.
“I think as a nation we should be showing that we are more interested in women’s health and making women and pregnant women a priority.”
ACT sexual health and family planning chief executive Tim Bavington said there was a lot of misinformation about access to and costs of abortion services.
“Sometimes people who may appear to have the financial resources do not, because they know their partner or family will not support the termination of pregnancy,” she said.
“Similarly for young people, whose family or parents would not support abortion, they might think they shouldn’t have had sex anyway, they can’t bring up the issue and… the young cannot access the family’s resources to pay for the abortion.”
The ACT government said it would work with service providers on specific agreements to cover the out-of-pocket costs of accessing abortion services in the territory.
He said this consultation work was expected to be completed in the first half of 2023.