Recent legislative changes in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand permit abortion to be performed in all jurisdictions, under certain circumstances, by registered health professionals who are working within their approved scope of practice.. View the guidelines.
![Mathilde Panot told the congress the abortion rights were ‘a promise … for all women fighting [for them] everywhere in the world’. Photograph: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images](https://afmw.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/france-abortion-rights.jpg)
Great news! The French parliament has enshrined abortion as a constitutional right at a historic joint session at the Palace of Versailles. May many more countries follow.
All doctors and nurse practitioners will be able to prescribe the pregnancy termination pill, and all pharmacies can stock it as the government slashes red tape.
Abortions will be free for Canberrans up until 16 weeks’ gestation with the ACT government pledging $4.6 million over four years. Canberra’s peak body for women’s health says distressing patient stories show more work is needed.
Dr Alisha Dorrigan, a Sydney-based GP and Deputy Medical Editor for the Medical Journal of Australia states how it would be an incredible achievement if patients across the country were able to receive the full spectrum of reproductive health services, including medical abortion, through their own GP clinic. Read this InSight+ article.
AFMW Member Professor Deborah Bateson, Professor of Practice at the University of Sydney and former Medical Director of Family Planning New South Wales was interviewed for this inSight+ article.
Dr Magdalena Simonis discusses how the decriminalisation of abortion marks a significant shift in recognising abortion as a health rights issue. ‘Decriminalising abortion is a gender equity and health issue.’
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