An explicit ban on abortions for non-medical reasons has been laid down by the executive of a regional New South Wales public hospital, the ABC can reveal.
A leaked document shows that staff at Orange Health Service in Central West NSW can no longer provide abortions for patients with “no identified pregnancy complications”.
Multiple sources from within and outside the hospital have told the ABC that both medical and surgical terminations — a legal form of health care — were previously provided regardless of circumstance.
Staff members have told the ABC they have been forced to turn away women seeking terminations.
According to the new policy document, Orange Hospital staff must now refer all patients wanting terminations for non-medical reasons to GPs, or “seek advice” from Family Planning NSW on the closest service provider.
The nearest Family Planning clinic is almost 2 hours away, does not provide surgical terminations and does not open on weekends.
Equitable access to abortion care was a key focus of the Senate inquiry into universal access to reproductive health care.
In its final report, delivered last year, it recommended that “all public hospitals within Australia be equipped to provide surgical pregnancy terminations, or timely and affordable pathways to other local providers” to improve equality of access, “particularly in rural and regional areas”.
Only two public hospitals in NSW offer formal termination services for patients within their catchment areas: the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney and John Hunter in Newcastle.
Kirsten Black, from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG), said complex, costly and obstructed referral pathways meant women often presented later in pregnancy for abortions.
“And the later you are in pregnancy, the more you reduce your choice, so if you’re beyond nine weeks you can’t access medical abortions in the community. And as the gestation increases, then the risk of complications increases, so increased risk of bleeding, of damage to the uterus,” she said.