00:00 Abortion is legal, safe and common and there is that legal provision, but what we know
00:06 is that that's not being universally or regularly practised.
00:11 So we hear stories of women saying that they'll go to a GP and the GP will automatically register
00:17 them for maternity leave, not discuss their options.
00:21 We also know that there'll be referrals made to other GPs or other services where the service
00:29 isn't provided to meet the needs of the woman.
00:32 So it's the direct objection, but then we also see it sort of through the system as
00:38 well, the availability of the service, the fact that it's not delivered equitably and
00:44 it's made more difficult if you're a woman from a migrant background or even if you,
00:49 and also if you live in rural and regional Victoria.
00:52 And how often is this happening, Kit?
00:54 Well, we have 1-800-MY-OPTIONS that gets about 600 calls a week from people looking for services
01:01 and they regularly will get calls across the week from women who are saying that they are
01:06 facing conscientious objection and they can't get access to the service in a timely way.
01:12 And that of course makes their quality of life, their choice for their future even more
01:18 difficult.
01:19 But it's only the GP, is it, who can conscientiously object by law?
01:24 Others in the chain of care can't.
01:25 Yeah, well if you're a health practitioner, so under the definition and you're providing
01:31 the service, you can conscientiously object.
01:34 So that can also be other practitioners apart from GPs as well.
01:38 All right, so how can women discreetly find out about the attitudes of health care providers?
01:43 Yeah, so in Victoria we've got 1-800-MY-OPTIONS, which is a website and a phone service that
01:49 women in Victoria can call for advice.
01:52 And the other thing too is to contact a local women's health service who will be able to
01:56 provide advice as well.
01:57 But I think there's also just the knowledge that if you are in a public health system
02:02 in Victoria, there is access to that as well.
02:06 The public health system does provide access to the service.
02:09 So this is what happens in Victoria, Kit.
02:11 Is it the same in other parts of the country?
02:13 Look, I think it's fair to say that because we've got the information system set up in
02:19 Victoria like 1-800-MY-OPTIONS, that doesn't exist across Australia.
02:24 So there'll be extra barriers.
02:26 We know that women use their networks, their information networks, their peers to find
02:31 information on who's available.
02:33 And women also find out who are the good GPs to deal with and who are not.
02:37 Even those GPs that say that they're a women's health service, we know that they do encounter
02:42 these challenges of getting the service health care that they need.
02:46 So how can this be handled differently to spare women distress?
02:50 So I think what we're saying, what we're arguing from the women's health perspective is that
02:54 there needs to be monitoring of it.
02:56 There needs to be transparent monitoring across Australia.
03:00 So if the reports come in, and can I just say that if you are a women that does face
03:05 it and you want to report it, the reporting through to the APRA, to the national regulator,
03:11 it can be quite onerous.
03:12 So easier reporting mechanisms in place, and then transparently reporting on that to understand
03:19 the impact of it and to enable us to talk about it more freely.
03:23 So just finally, a reminder about the advice to women about where to go for treatment and
03:27 help.
03:28 Yeah, so in Victoria, you can go to 1800MYOPTIONS and the website is the same as that.
03:35 And then your public health provider will be able to provide the support as well through
03:39 their women's health service.
03:40 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Comments