A senior Labor minister says talks on improving reproductive health in Australia should continue after the repeal of Roe v Wade in the United States.
Tanya Plibersek, who was the spokeswoman for the women’s opposition before last month’s election, told ABC RN Breakfast that we needed to have a “holistic view” of women’s reproductive health.
Mitzi Rivas, on the left, hugs her daughter Maya Iribarren during a protest for abortion rights in San Francisco City Hall following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Credit: AP / Josie Lepe
He said it was important for young people to have a better sex education and knew they could say no to sex, and that there was access to “a safe and affordable legal abortion when needed.”
“Get better advice and availability of contraceptives, including long-acting reversible contraceptives. We are unusual as a country in the rather low rates of use of this type of contraceptive,” Plibersek said Tuesday morning.
“I think it’s important that state health ministers and our Commonwealth health minister continue to have conversations about how we can better deliver this complete set of reproductive health to Australian women.
“What we know for certain countries is that if abortion is illegal or too expensive for women, that doesn’t stop them from having abortions. It just pushes them to unsafe, illegal, and costly layoffs.”
Loading
Academic gynecologist Professor Kirsten Black of the University of Sydney told the same radio program that “equitable access to abortion needs to be increased,” with discrepancies in rural areas.
“The Australian government has invested money in IVF … I think it’s an important issue for the reproductive rights of women and people, but just as important is the ability to choose whether to have children or not,” she said.
Black noted that there are limited public abortion services, with many medical and surgical abortions performed in the private sector costing between $ 400 and $ 500.