Doctors stop abortions
DOCTORS across Queensland have been advised not to provide medical abortions over fears they may face prosecution.
Pro-choice lobbyist Reproductive Choice Australia has advised all Queensland-based doctors against involvement in non-surgical abortions following the discovery of a legal loophole that they say allows doctors and patients involved in an abortion to be prosecuted.
Cairns-based gynaecologist Dr Caroline de Costa, the first in Australia to be able to prescribe abortion pill RU86, last week announced she had stopped providing the controversial drug after a 19-year-old Cairns woman and her partner were charged with procuring a miscarriage.
It's alleged the girl used the drug Misoprostol, smuggled in from overseas, to abort her foetus.
The pair are due to face Cairns Magistrates Court again tomorrow.
Reproductive Choice Australia president Dr Leslie Cannold said Queensland-based doctors would be fools not to follow Dr de Costa's lead.
"Medical abortion is a safe option and in some cases may be the only safe option for a woman," he said.
"But until Premier Anna Bligh does the right thing and reforms the law, Queensland doctors and their patients will continue to risk prosecution and jail for involvement with medical abortion."
Surgical abortion is permitted in Queensland if the woman's physical or mental health is in danger by continuing the pregnancy.
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No more: Cairns gynaecologist Dr Caroline de Costa.
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