Wagga Women's Health Centre could soon offer abortion services to fix 'appalling' access issues

Wagga Women's Health Centre president Vickie Burkinshaw said the centre was contacted year-round by women who needed help to access reproductive health services, something they currently do not offer.

"It can be prohibitively expensive, and if you can access it, sometimes you have to go out of town... generally it's not considered an option by doctors for many women, which I think is appalling," she said.

"It's something that we're really keen on supporting, and we've got a number of doctors that indicated they're happy to help us with that."

IN OTHER NEWS:

Access to reproductive healthcare is currently the subject of a Commonwealth senate inquiry which is looking at a range of factors regarding the accessibility of contraceptives, pregnancy and termination services.

In a submission to the inquiry, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) said there were "significant barriers" to accessing abortions and the full range of contraceptive options in rural and regional Australia.

RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins said lowering costs, increasing service availability, and training more GPs were all ways to improve the availability of reproductive healthcare.

"As a regional GP, I know all too well that there are significant barriers to reproductive care for people in rural and remote communities, particularly those who wish to access termination services," she said.

"Safe abortion and contraceptive services must be affordable and accessible for all those who need it."

In their submission, the RACGP said all types of contraception - including new and emergency types - should be added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, and that greater quantities of the contraceptive pill should be allowed to be dispensed at one time.

The submission also recommended medicines for medical terminations should be more accessible, and that state and territory legislation should be equalised.

"There should be financial support for GPs who wish to train in surgical abortion, and incentives for GPs to deliver these services in rural and remote communities," Dr Higgins said.

"This is an easy way to improve access across the country."

Ms Burkinshaw also called for more honest conversations about reproductive health in Wagga.

"Women need to have choices about their own bodies, and we need to talk about it in a supportive way," she said.

"We need to have more people who are available and willing to provide the services as well."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: