Doctors are calling on the South Australian government to urgently enact abortion reforms as women continue to face barriers accessing the procedure more than a year after new laws passed.
The historic bill decriminalising abortion in South Australia was passed in March last year.
But Australian Medical Association (AMA) councillor and obstetrician Brian Peat said a government-convened committee is still working out how the law can be implemented and in the meantime, women are facing extra barriers under the old laws.
"The service is trying to rise to the occasion, but people have been moved from eight to 11 weeks (gestation) because they've had to wait, a lot of bad things are happening that are not ideal," he said.
Dr Peat said the new laws could have decentralised pressure on the limited abortion services by now, with the system being slowed down further by the pandemic.
"Waiting lists are blowing out, everything is now more complicated, everyone needs 20 questions before they get seen, they've got to get PPE, they're trying to minimise face-to-face contact," he said.
Dr Peat said the AMA was asked to comment on regulations that have been circled since the committee was tasked to help enact the legislation.
He said issues on whether data should be shared with the state government in relation to terminations could be holding up the process.
"We were in favour of giving data … because medicine runs much better when more data is collected," Dr Peat said.
Dr Peat said the regulations that are being considered are "very simple" and any indecisiveness should have been overridden by the Health Minister by now.
"I can't believe it can take a year," he said.
Historic change yet to be enacted
When abortion was decriminalised in March last year, the changes brought South Australia into line with most jurisdictions in the country.
The new laws mean a pregnant woman only needs to consult one doctor — instead of two — to procure an abortion, as long as she is not more than 22 weeks and six days gestation.
Two doctors are now only required to approve an abortion if it's medically appropriate after the 22-week, six-day time frame.
The new laws also scrapped a clause that required women to attend a "prescribed hospital" to access medication for early termination.
Wallaroo GP Anna Kearney said since the old laws are still in place, regional women have continued to face extra challenges accessing abortions due to fewer "prescribed hospitals" in the regions.
"We still have to make women travel for 2.5 hours and then to tell them they have to see a second doctor, then we have to mess around at the hospital to administer the medication," she said.
"It really is making women jump through hoops unnecessarily."
"It can be so distressing for women, knowing they could've accessed the medical abortion pill prior to nine weeks — that's when it's TGA approved — and then, from a limited availability of appointment times, they're unable to have that medical termination and are forced to proceed with a surgical termination.
"It's really not acceptable."
The state government has been contacted for comment.
