Senator Larissa Waters: Townsville women suffering from ‘postcode lottery’ of abortion services

The lack of abortion services in Townsville has gone under the microscope as the Queensland Greens call for a senate inquiry session to be held in North Queensland.

Greens senator Larissa Waters speaks about the party's policies to help fix the housing shortage crisis Cairns, and the rest of Australia, is currently experiencing. Picture: Brendan Radke

The lack of abortion services in Townsville has gone under the microscope at a community forum as the Queensland Greens call for a senate inquiry session to be held in North Queensland.

A Greens-backed push to establish an inquiry into abortion access in Australia, with a focus on rural and remote locations, passed the senate in Wednesday, September 28 of this year.

The inquiry will report back by the end of March 2023, and Senator Larissa Waters wants Townsville to be in the focus.

Qld Greens Senator Larissa Waters and senate candidate Penny Allman-Payne on the Cairns Esplanade. Picture Emily Barker

“Abortion at the moment is a postcode lottery and it shouldn’t be that way,” Ms Waters said

“People here in Townsville would know that about a year ago, the only provider of surgical abortions shut up shop.

“Now, if you’re in Townsville and you have an unwanted pregnancy, you have a four-hour drive to try and get the medical care you need.”

Ms Waters likened the situation in some parts of rural and remote Australia to scenes from ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, a television show where women are treated as property.

She said after travel and medical expenses, abortion services could often cost some women hundreds of dollars as well as hundreds of kilometres of travel time.

“We’ll have a public forum here in Townsville throughout Wednesday (at Strand Park), we’ll be hearing about the barriers that women face here and we’ll be using that local information and using that to lobby for better laws and betters access, not just in Townsville, but everywhere,” Ms Waters said.

“Rural and regional Australians should not be getting second-class healthcare. I’m very pleased that this inquiry will look at the challenges regional Australia is facing and we expecting to come back for a hearing here in Townsville.”

Marie Stopes, Townsville’s last abortion clinic closed in June of last year, with women forced to travel to either Cairns or Brisbane in order to receive surgical intervention.

In June of this year, the state government allocated $1 million to support a termination of pregnancy program at Townsville University Hospital, however at present even medical intervention or telehealth services can be difficult to source.

“There’s only about four services that will provide that medication to you, and there’s a limited time frame in which you can use it,” Ms Waters said.
“What we’re expecting to hear from people is their lived experiences about how they’ve had to face the enormous expense and delays to try and get an abortion.”

Ms Waters said Townsville women, particularly those who’ve found themselves homeless as a result of domestic violence and other factors, needed reliable support services close to home.

“It is totally unreasonable to have to drive four hours to get medical attention. We need to make sure that it is affordable, accessible and culturally appropriate.”

Originally published as Senator Larissa Waters: Townsville women suffering from ‘postcode lottery’ of abortion services