Calls for Mifepristone to be Removed From Special Status
Image credit: Urine Drug Test HQ
While many Australians are supportive of a woman’s right to choose abortion, NSW remains the only state in Australia where abortion is still criminalised with minor exceptions.
The Medical drug Mifepristone (RU486) is a prescribed drug that induces a medical abortion. It’s been around since the 1980s but after a banning in 1996 by the Howard government it was unavailable to Australian women for 10 years.
Even after the overturning in 2006 the availability of this drug is not mainstream with 1,500 of Australia’s 35,000 GP’s are registered to manage early medical abortion.
2SER spoke to Dr Caroline De Costa, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Medicine at James Cook University about the availability of Mifepristone.
For more information, Dr Caroline De Costa has published an article on The Conversation.
