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MEDIA STATEMENT 10AM AWST/12.30PM ACDT FRIDAY 13 NOVEMBER AUSTRALIA ON TRACK FOR NATIONAL SAFE ACCESS TO ABORTION CARE This week has seen significant advances for safe access to healthcare in Australia. Safe access zones were legislated in South Australia on Wednesday when the Health Care (Safe Access) Amendment Bill 2020 (‘The SA Bill’) was passed. Safe access zones are another step closer to becoming law in Western Australia due to the Public Health Amendment (Safe …
MEDIA STATEMENT 10.00AM AEDT THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER BIG CHANGES IN A NEW STRATEGY – THE NEW TEAM TO SEE IT THROUGH This year has been a challenge for so many organisations and people. At Marie Stopes Australia (MSA), we spent this time focused on two core objectives. Making sure: We continue to provide essential abortion care services to people living …
MEDIA STATEMENT Wednesday 4 November 2020 Advocates and legal experts have released a paper that necessitates the implementation of nurse-led models of abortion care in Australia. A shortage of trained providers presents a significant barrier to accessing abortion care services throughout Australia. While access to abortion care in rural, regional, and remote settings poses a considerable challenge. Long-term health inequity …
MEDIA STATEMENT FRIDAY 16 OCTOBER Australia’s national abortion care provider calls on South Australia to amend its proposed bill to decriminalise abortion. Marie Stopes welcomes South Australia’s next step towards decriminalising abortion which will bring it more in line with the rest of Australia. However, the Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2020 tabled for a first reading in Parliament last Wednesday …
MEDIA STATEMENT 1PM AWST WEDNESDAY 14 OCTOBER SAFE ACCESS ZONES A STEP CLOSER FOR WA The Western Australian Government has taken a step towards better protection of healthcare staff and patients accessing sexual and reproductive health services following the introduction of a safe access zones bill in Parliament today. The Public Health Amendment Bill 2020 (‘The Bill’) proposes measures that …
Medical abortion via telehealth in Australia has increased considerably during the pandemic with service take up growing by more than 150% across the country, according to data from Marie Stopes Australia. Medical abortion via telehealth has become a more accessible form of abortion care across the globe during COVID-19, particularly as countries face increasing movement and travel restrictions. Nationally, Marie …
Marie Stopes Australia and the Australian Healthcare and Hospital Association (AHHA) has called on the Australian Government to act quickly to expand and protect COVID-19 Medicare items that support telehealth provision of sexual and reproductive healthcare. The Australian Government acted swiftly to broaden the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) to support expanded telehealth services during COVID-19 and these changes have been …
Planned changes from 20 July to Medicare items for telehealth consultations will significantly impact on timely, affordable access to sexual and reproductive health services across Australia, according to Marie Stopes Australia and the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM). Marie Stopes Australia and ASHM are calling on the Federal Government to urgently reinstate temporary MBS …
A new study published in the July issue of BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health shows that at-home medical abortion via telehealth is accessible, convenient, and plays a key role in the accessibility of abortion care across Australia. The joint qualitative study between Marie Stopes Australia, Ibis Reproductive Health, and Monash University showed that participants selected the at-home telemedicine model for …
MEDIA STATEMENT Marie Stopes Australia is bracing for a surge in later gestation terminations and increased client complexities including financial hardship and domestic violence as the nation slowly moves towards recovery from COVID-19. The concerns have been highlighted in Marie Stopes Australia’s latest situation report, released today, that details the ongoing impacts of the pandemic on Australians sexual and reproductive …
MEDIA STATEMENT Permits have been granted for anti-choice groups to restart their weekly picketing outside Marie Stopes Australia’s Midland clinic from today. The anti-choice groups had their permits cancelled towards the end of March as part of the public health response to COVID-19. Despite this, picketers showed up at the clinic on 27 March and WA Police were called. As …
Staff and clients at Marie Stopes Australia are one step closer to having their privacy, dignity and safety protected from anti-choice picketers with the WA Government committing to introduce Safe Access Zone legislation this year. Safe Access Zones provide a 150 metre safety bubble around abortion care clinics. They stop harassment, intimidation and public judgement of staff and clients by …
New South Wales is one of the last states to decriminalise abortion. We have seen the positive effects of decriminalising abortion in Queensland last year, with increased access to services in hospitals and more doctors willing to provide vital services without fear of prosecution. Marie Stopes strongly supports the bill to remove abortion from the Crimes Act in New South …
Scaremongering About Abortion Should Not Be A Federal Election Tactic With a Federal election two days away, inflammatory and misleading material has appeared throughout electorates, and online, about abortions in Australia. The majority of Australians, 70.5% according to the ABC’s Vote Compass, believe abortion should be more accessible, so the views expressed in the distributed material are not in line …
Marie Stopes Australia welcomes the High Court ruling upholding the constitutionality of safe access zones in Victoria and Tasmania. Acting CEO of Marie Stopes Australia, Jamal Hakim said that “today’s High Court ruling demonstrates that women’s health, safety and privacy is absolutely critical when accessing healthcare services.” “A lot of effort has gone into the defence of these zones because …
