Wider access to abortion support
Medication for early medical abortions will be accessible over the phone, as the Government launches a new telehealth service in an effort to improve healthcare for rural communities.
The service will connect callers who want an abortion, and are less than 10 weeks pregnant, to a health practitioner who ‘‘can help guide someone through the process of an early medical abortion’’, associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall said.
‘‘After consulting with the practitioner, if a person wishes to proceed, they can then choose whether to have medicines couriered to them or to pick them up from a supporting pharmacy.’’
Verrall said the service, named Decide, would significantly improve healthcare for rural New Zealanders and for those with privacy concerns.
The launch of the telehealth service, part of health reforms for consistency across New Zealand, was a ‘‘huge step towards normalising and improving access to abortion care’’.
‘‘From today, the abortion medicine mifepristone becomes available on prescription,’’ Verrall said. ‘‘This means that people can get a prescription from their health practitioner and take it to the pharmacy to get it filled.’’ Alma de Anda, a board member from abortion rights organisation ALRANZ, said the rollout of telehealth for early medical abortions would make a huge difference and improve the privacy of patients.
‘‘It will vastly increase the ability for people who want or need to get an abortion in a timely manner ... not only for people in rural communities who have had trouble getting to hospitals and
clinics.
‘‘Having 0800 Decide is really important.’’
National health spokesperson Shane Reti said it made sense to improve access to abortion with a telehealth service.
‘‘National is supportive of New Zealanders getting better and easier access to healthcare.’’
Parliament voted in March 2020 to remove abortion from the Crimes Act, but a later Ministry of Health survey found access to early medical abortions was patchy, and not locally available to all.
Medical abortion is a way to end pregnancy without surgery. Two pills are taken within the first nine weeks of pregnancy to induce a miscarriage.