Wagga Woman of the Year Vickie Burkinshaw giving a speech at the Wagga Women’s Health Centre. Photo: Facebook.
Wagga MP Joe McGirr has defended his opposition to a law passed in the NSW Parliament last week that will soon allow nurse practitioners and midwives to prescribe abortion-inducing pills.
Albury-based Greens MP Amanda Cohn’s bill sought to improve access to pregnancy termination in rural areas by expanding the scope of medical practitioners authorised to assist in the procedure. Currently, only doctors can prescribe abortions.
Dr McGirr sought to amend Dr Cohn’s bill by requiring nurse practitioners and midwives to have at least two years of experience before they could prescribe pregnancy terminations.
Wagga Women’s Health Centre president Vickie Burkinshaw called this proposed change “redundant”.
“I think if the medical training system is doing its job, then the requirement to have two years’ experience is redundant training,” she said.
Wagga Greens Councillor Jenny McKinnon agreed, highlighting the training these health professionals undergo, including the 5000 hours of clinical practice required from nurse practitioners.
“These are nurse practitioners that we’re talking about. These are people who have done all the training,” she said.
“I don’t understand why they need two years of experience in order to be able to do this. If a woman meets the criteria [for a medical abortion], why shouldn’t a nurse practitioner be able to do this prescribing?”
Nevertheless, Dr McGirr stood by his position.
“I sought to amend the bill to require extra training for nurse practitioners and enrolled midwives prescribing [the abortion pill] MS-2 Step to reflect the importance of this change to the community, and to ensure prescribers were fully prepared for their new scope of practice,” he said.
“As this treatment was already available from doctors, I sought to minimise the impact on the already-stretched public health sector so that it could focus on priorities such as reforming the alarming shortfall of obstetrics services in rural and regional areas.”
But Ms Burkinshaw said the reform was desperately needed, as there were only seven clinics and a handful of pharmacies that would prescribe the medical abortion pills across Wagga.
“As we know, it’s very difficult to access, you know, doctor’s appointments, let alone a doctor that will agree to give you a prescription for the medical abortion pill,” she said.
The pill can only be prescribed to women up to nine weeks pregnant. Ms Burkinshaw hopes that this will reduce the need for surgical abortions, which remain inaccessible for Riverina women.
“I mean, it’s still an issue in terms of accessing surgical abortion, but hopefully through having access [to medical abortion], it finishes the need [for surgical abortion] in some way,” she said.
Cr McKinnon also took issue with the Wagga MP’s claim that the bill placed abortion over other medical emergencies.
“I don’t really understand where Dr McGirr is coming from with that comment,” she said.
“If a woman needs some sort of surgery that they can’t access for 12 months or something, you know, that’s one issue. But when it comes to pregnancy, it’s an incredibly time-sensitive issue, and this service provides access for women up to nine weeks of pregnancy.”
Dr Cohn’s original bill required doctors refusing to perform abortions to refer patients to a medical provider who would.
This was struck out by a majority of MPs, a change Dr McGirr welcomed.
“I welcome the removal of some aspects of the original bill in the Legislative Council, including the proposed requirement on doctors to act against their conscience when consulting with patients,” he said.
Ms Burkinshaw took a different view.
“I think it’s absolutely outrageous that if you are not going to provide that support, that you don’t pass that on to someone who is willing to provide it and you know, we have the data, we have the information,” she said.
“So, I think that it’s only fair and courteous that if someone is calling your practice, you show them dignity and pass on a referral pathway.”
