Later today Kezia Purick MLA, in her capacity as the member for Goyder in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, will present a private members bill allowing women in the Territory to gain access to RU486, readily accessible in all other Australian jurisdictions but unavailable to women in the NT. Buying RU486 (also known as Mifepristone) online is unlawful.
As she advised followers on Facebook yesterday:
I gave notice that I intend to present a bill tomorrow afternoon in the session called general business day to amend the NT Medical Services Act.
The amendments, if passed by the Legislative Assembly, will see Territory women being able to have access to the drug mifepristone to have a pregnancy terminated medically and not by surgery.
In May this year the NT Health Minister, John Elferink, said that the NT Cabinet had considered amendments to the Medical Services Act that would allow for more widespread use of RU486 but had decided against it.
Neda Vanovac in the NT News reported that Elferink noted there would: “… be no change to the status quo,” and that no reason was given for Cabinet’s decision.
Dr Suzanne Belton, chair of the Family Planning Association NT, told Vanovac that:
This decision leaves the NT at least 25 years behind the rest of the world and is out of step with all other states and territories in Australia.
Kezia Purick has long expressed her concerns, including that the unavailability of RU486 in the NT was forcing women to travel interstate to obtain access.
RU486 is included on the taxpayer-subsidised Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
Heralding the introduction of her private members bill in August this year, Kezia Purick indicated that she would prefer the medication to be available at NT communities with substantial medical facilities, including the townships of Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, Gove and Darwin.
She told the ABC that:
Any medication has risks associated with it and that’s where GPs and medical people play an important role to assess the woman and make sure risks are minimised if not eliminated,” she said.
Kezia Purick has expressed her thanks for the broad support the Bill has received from her fellow NT parliamentarians and many others outside of the Assembly. The Bill is expected to be debated in the February 2016 sittings and is should pass with support from all parties (Purick is an independent), though not, it appears, from all parliamentarians.
For further information about access to RU486 in the NT see my previous post here and the Facebook page of WHAT RU4 NT? or follow them at @WhatRU4NT.
If you wish to show your support for the Bill by sign a petition to the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory, you can access that here: Review the Medical Services Act to clarify access to choice for Territory women and girls
The Northern Myth will post Kezia Purick’s speech in support of her private member’s bill here.
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