Birth control, contraception and abortion services should be subsidised by the government and freely available to those in need, according to Greens senator and spokesperson for women Larissa Waters.
On Friday, Waters attended the final public hearing of five for an inquiry into universal access to reproductive healthcare.
In a statement, the senator said the clear message the inquiry heard was that people did not have access to safe, affordable and timely abortion, contraception and reproductive healthcare.
“The Labor government must use the upcoming budget to fix this inequality in our healthcare system,” Waters said.
“Too many people are having to spend hundreds of dollars and travel hundreds of kilometres to get an abortion, or cannot afford contraception that works best for them.”
The Greens want funding in the Budget to be set aside for free medical and surgical abortions to be available in all publicly funded hospitals.
All types of contraception should also be affordable, the party argues, with evidence from the inquiry indicating abortion access is a “postcode lottery”, despite being legal in Australia.
“Some regional towns don’t have a GP or pharmacist willing to prescribe a medical termination, or long acting reversible contraceptives, and many regional and all religious hospitals are not providing abortion care despite receiving federal public funding,” Waters said.
“For those without access to Medicare, the cost of abortion care can be totally out of reach, even if you manage to navigate the complex rules and find a clinic,” she added.
Waters said she was committed to calling the government to consider how May’s Budget can make healthcare and abortion more accessible for all people.
“We will keep working towards strong, cross-party recommendations from this inquiry,” the senator said.
“We’ve seen the ACT Labor-Greens government act on this issue already, it’s time the federal government does its part to make abortion and contraception free, safe and accessible, no matter where you live.”
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Inquiry to examine how to lift barriers to abortion, streamline national laws
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