Facts and
figures

Medication abortions are safe, but they must be used with medical supervision said Dr Margaret Sparrow, the National President of Alranz said today.

Dr. Sparrow was responding to a news report from Brisbane that a 19-year-old young woman and her 21-year-old boyfriend have both been charged with procuring an abortion. The reported allegations by Police are that a family member obtained misoprostol from a doctor in the Ukraine and smuggled it into Australia on a flight to Cairns on Christmas Day 2008.

“This is not RU486 or mifepristone commonly known as the abortion pill,” said Dr Sparrow. “It is a prostaglandin which is commonly used in conjunction with mifepristone but where mifepristone is not available it is used alone with less efficacy.”

“It is a common method of illegal abortion in South American countries where abortion is restricted by law.”

Pro-choice campaigners in Queensland are shocked that this should happen in Queensland where abortions are obtainable, although the majority are through private clinics where charges apply.

Dr. Sparrow said case highlighted the antiquated laws in Queensland, where the penalty for a woman carrying out her own abortion is up to seven years in prison.

In New Zealand in 1977 this crime was removed from the Crimes Act and made a lesser offence in the Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion Act with a penalty of a maximum fine of $200. If charged under Section 224 of the Queensland Criminal Code the boyfriend is liable for a up to 14 years in prison.

The case has increased calls for the Queensland Parliament to decriminalise abortion as happened in the State of Victoria in October 2008.

For more on medical abortion, visit: www.alranz.org/ALRANZpamphletmedicalabortion.htm
Dr Margaret Sparrow, Alranz National President: 04 475-9886 or 021 263-5050 or email.

ENDS