Push to improve access to abortion services by Northern Territory doctors

Northern Territory doctors have called for major reforms to abortion services in the Top End.

The issue was raised in an article in the Medical Journal of Australia, published after Royal Darwin Hospital lost its permanent abortion doctor.

While the role has been filled temporarily, the facility is yet to find a long-term fix.

In November, the then health minister Robyn Lambley flagged a review of abortion laws, which currently restrict the use of drug RU486 to special cases and require all terminations to be performed in hospitals.

The drug RU486 is taken orally and used as an alternative to surgical abortion.

Dr Suzanne Belton, from Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin, was one of several authors who wrote the article.

The article highlighted that termination services in the NT were now reduced to one private hospital in Darwin, at which only a few doctors could provide surgical abortions, and one public hospital in Alice Springs.

With about 20 women presenting for a surgical abortion during their first trimester in Darwin every week, lack of public access was now a real problem, the authors wrote.

Dr Belton said the public provision of terminations in Darwin was precarious and the law must change.

"In other states there are free-standing abortion clinics, and it's also possible for women in other states to go to the general practitioner and take some tablets and have a managed miscarriage, called a medication abortion," she said.

"We can't do that because of the law in the Northern Territory.

"When you have one doctor providing one service, if that doctor is sick or in this case... resigned, you end up in a position with no one being able to provide that service."

Dr Belton said there had been suggestions made that women needing abortion services could be flown interstate.

But she said support from friends, families and partners during such procedures was important.

"To fly interstate is stressful at the best of times for a health service," she said.

"And the cost would be flabbergasting."

The Territory's new Health Minister, John Elferink, said he was prepared to look at improving abortion services and access in the NT.

He said he had been reassured by his department that it was unlikely people would have to head to southern states to access abortion services.

"This is largely an operational issue, but I understand the operational issue has been dealt with," he said.

Mr Elferink says he would be guided by clinicians as to how changes may affect people's safety and welfare, but ultimately any amendments would be decided by Cabinet.

"One of the issues that doubtlessly will come up is whether hospitals are the only place where terminations can be procured or performed," he said.

"And that's one of the things I'm sure the review will look at.

"I'll take some advice on that, and then I'll speak to my Cabinet colleagues and my party colleagues about the issue."

He said RU486 was already used in the NT, but in "very limited circumstances".