Qld abortion access: Telehealth solution flagged

A telehealth solution to Queensland’s abortion access crisis would solve about 80 per cent of cases, according to proponents.

A free tele-abortion service being considered by the Queensland government would go a long way to solving the dire situation facing many women trying to access abortion services across the state, according to the state’s peak medical groups and women's’ health advocates.

The Sunday-Mailrevealed at the weekend that women across the state were being turned away from hospitals, faced travelling hundreds or thousands of kilometres and were at times forced to plead with not for profits for financial assistance to pay for the vital service.

Children by Choice says if the government were to fund a service that provided telehealth appointments and sent out medication used to end pregnancies under nine weeks, it would make a huge difference to the one in three women and girls who would seek a termination of pregnancy in their lifetime.

“It won’t solve all of the problems, but it would solve about 80 per cent of them,” Children by Choice CEO Daile Kelleher said.

“We know most abortions happen in the first trimester, so it makes sense to have a free medical option.”

The concept has the backing of the Australian Medical Association Queensland, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and MSI Australia – the country’s largest reproductive choices provider.

A spokesman for Queensland Health said the government wanted to ensure women could access safe and high-quality termination of pregnancy services no matter where they lived.

“Ongoing work is under way to understand barriers to access termination of pregnancy services and to provide potential solutions, including the feasibility of a collaborative telehealth model,” he said.

“We are working with consumer groups, hospital and health services, frontline staff and peak industry bodies to understand barriers to access termination of pregnancy services and to provide clear public pathways and timely access to termination of pregnancy.”

Children by Choice CEO Daile Kelleher

AMA Queensland president Dr Maria Boulton said her organisation had made clear its concerns around the lack of abortion services to the Queensland Government.

“Given Queensland Health currently offers no structured referral pathway process for termination services, there may be merit in the idea of providing pregnancy choice services via telehealth, provided it’s done safely with the right supports,” she said.

“Any tele pregnancy choice service would also need to provide referral to an accessible surgical termination service – which cannot be performed remotely – as well as around-the-clock access to after-care support to manage any recovery complications and offer post-termination counselling.”

A previous proposal made by MSI Australia asking the Queensland Government to fund it to provide a free tele-abortion service had “fallen on deaf ears”, managing director Jamal Hakim said.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners deputy Queensland Dr Cathryn Hester said the barriers women faced when it came to reproductive services “were magnified the further you are from a metro centre” and said there could be real benefit for women who could access a free tele-abortion without the need to travel or pay large out of pocket expenses.

A spokeswoman in Health Minister Yvette D’Ath’s office said the Palaszczuk Government had been consulting with stakeholders since late last year on both a Queensland Women’s Health Strategy and an associated plan on measures the Queensland Government could take to improve termination services in Queensland by strengthening gaps in the private system and improving access and consistency in the public system.

“These are expected to be finalised in the coming months and released shortly afterwards,” she said.

“On the 2nd March 2023, Queensland Health held a Women’s Health Workforce Forum that focused on the attraction and retention of the entire statewide women’s health workforce.

“This includes the workforce that delivers termination of pregnancy services in Queensland.”