Doctors hit out at silence over new abortion service

DOCTORS have slammed as “unacceptable” the failure to brief GPs on when a low-cost abortion provider will re-open in Tasmania or how to refer patients to it.

asmania’s Australian Medical Association president Dr John Davis. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

DOCTORS have slammed as “unacceptable” the failure to brief GPs on when a low-cost abortion provider will re-open in Tasmania or how to refer patients to it.

After the state’s only low-cost abortion provider closed in December, women are still being forced to travel interstate for surgical abortions.

The Tasmanian Government has said a service would be running by the end of this month, but there is no news on a date or how much it will cost.

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Tasmania’s Australian Medical Association president John Davis, a Hobart-based GP, said doctors remained in the dark.

“I was under the impression it would be available by the end of this month. The fact there has been a hiatus is unacceptable,’’ Dr Davis said. “Given that abortion in Tasmania is legal, women in Tasmania have a right to access the service regardless of how much money they do or do not have.

“I feel strongly about this.

“Regardless of your religious views on this process, it’s Tasmanian law, it’s a legal treatment and women, regardless of their financial status, have a right to access it.”

Health Minister Michael Ferguson pledged that a new low-cost provider would be operating by the end of this month. A spokeswoman said that timeline was still on track.

“Information is provided to GPs across Tasmania on who to refer to. They will know the service name, if it’s open and how to refer,” the spokeswoman said.

But Dr Davis said GPs did not know when the service would open.

“I am a general practitioner in Hobart and I am not aware that services are available at the moment,’’ he said.

The Government will not publicly reveal the location of the provider, fearing protesters could target women seeking terminations.

It is understood to be a Melbourne-based doctor who will fly in to Tasmania to provide abortions, but the Government has not released a name or contact information arguing any announcements were up to the private provider.

Labor’s Michelle O’Byrne said the situation was a disgrace.