Tasmanian doctors are working to improve access to medical pregnancy termination with many GPs reluctant to prescribe the appropriate drugs or unaware of the options available.
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North and North-West women have had limited access to abortions since the closure of the region’s only surgical pregnancy termination clinic.
Medical terminations are an increasingly preferred option but can only be used in pregnancies of up to nine weeks.
General practitioner Jan Radford said many doctors held concerns about women’s safety after taking the medication.
She has joined with Primary Health Tasmania to plot a clinical pathway aimed at allaying the fears held by doctors looking to prescribe mifepristone and misoprostol to their patients.
“It’s a matter of having the system networked to ensure patient safety,” she said.
The Tabbot Foundation will send women the required drugs but is not available to women who are not fluent in English. Rural women may also struggle to fulfil its criteria on ultrasounds and hospital access.
A Primary Health Tasmania spokeswoman said: “Having this pathway available will mean that if a woman goes to her GP with an unwanted pregnancy, the GP will be able to go into the portal and clearly see the range of options available in Tasmania, for discussion with the woman.
“This will include information about any health care providers with special training in this area, plus information resources and support services available to the woman.”
