Scores of women are flying into Victoria to have late-term abortions each year because of prohibitive laws in other states and territories.
The demand for the controversial procedure is so great in Melbourne that the main service is flying doctors in from South Australia because there is a shortage of doctors trained and willing to do it in Victoria.
Marie Stopes International, the only private organisation that provides terminations for women 20-24 weeks pregnant in Victoria, said about 46 per cent of these procedures were done for interstate women.
The group declined to say how many it performed each year, but a spokeswoman said there were "scores" of women coming in from interstate. Some public hospitals also perform late-term abortions in Victoria, but the department of health does not publish data on it.
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at James Cook University Caroline De Costa said inconsistent and inadequate state-based laws were driving "abortion tourism" in Australia, mainly to Victoria and overseas and has called for urgent legislative reform. She said hundreds of women were likely to be travelling for the procedure each year.
"I know people who can afford it are going overseas… I know of one woman who went to the United Kingdom, one who has gone to India and several who have gone to the United States," she said.
Professor de Costa said laws in Queensland were a major problem because it was still a crime for women and doctors to participate in abortion in some circumstances. It is only legal when a doctor believes a woman's physical and or mental health is in serious danger. Five years ago, a young couple faced court for procuring an abortion drug in the state, however they were acquitted.
While the procedure is still outlawed in NSW as well, it is permitted for the same reasons in Queensland, however doctors can also consider a woman's social and economic situation. In South Australia, it is legal up to 28 weeks if two doctors agree that a woman's physical and/or mental health are endangered by pregnancy, or for serious fetal abnormalities. But to protect against 'tourism', a pregnant woman must have been a resident of the state for at least two months before the procedure.
Writing in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday, Professor de Costa and Professor of law at the University of Queensland, Heather Douglas, said these legal barriers existed despite developments in detection of fetal abnormalities.
"Medicare-funded diagnosis of fetal abnormality is now routinely offered to all pregnant Australian women — with the implication that a woman may choose to terminate the pregnancy if a serious abnormality is detected. Abortion laws, however, have not kept pace with these developments," they said.
In Victoria, abortion was decriminalised in 2008. It is legal up to 24 weeks for any reason, and requires two doctors to agree after 24 weeks.
Professor de Costa said while the abortion drug mifepristone (RU486) was being used in some accredited Australian hospitals, access to the drug is very difficult for rural women, especially in South Australia and the Northern Territory. She said other barriers to abortion services include verbal and sometimes physical harassment outside clinics.
"In 2015, there is an urgent need for legislative uniformity across Australia so that the law is in step with modern medical practice, and so that women, regardless of where they live, have equal access to abortion services", Professor de Costa and Professor Douglas said.
Australian CEO of Marie Stopes International Alexis Apostolellis said all Australian women deserved to have equal access to sexual and reproductive health, regardless of which state they live in.
"We would welcome a national approach toward improving access to this critical health service," he said.
Experts estimate 80,000 women have abortions in Australia each year, meaning about one in four pregnancies are terminated.
HOW THE LAWS DIFFER
Queensland: Abortion a crime for women and doctors. Legal when doctor believes a woman's physical and/or mental health is in serious danger.
New South Wales: Abortion a crime for women and doctors. Legal when doctor believes a woman's physical and/or mental health is in serious danger. Social, economic and medical factors may also be taken into account.
Australian Capital Territory: Legal, but must be provided by medical doctor.
Victoria: Legal to 24 weeks. Legal post-24 weeks with two doctors' approval.
South Australia: Legal up to 28 weeks if two doctors agree that a woman's physical and/or mental health endangered by pregnancy, or for serious foetal abnormality.
Tasmania: Legal to 16 weeks. After that, needs approval of two doctors.
Western Australia: Legal up to 20 weeks, restricted after that.
Northern Territory: Legal to 14 weeks if two doctors agree that woman's physical and/or mental health endangered by pregnancy, or for serious foetal abnormality. Up to 23 weeks in an emergency.
Source: Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Children by Choice.
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