Clinics shun abortion pill

By FIONA OLIPHANT and MARTIN JOHNSTON

Clinics fearing legal repercussions are refusing to offer the approved abortion pill.

The pill was introduced in August, but abortion clinics have resisted using it, instead seeking a legal opinion on their obligations of care for women after the treatment.

The two Auckland abortion clinics, which are set up for the shorter surgical abortions, say they want the issues resolved before they use the pill Mifegyne, sold overseas as RU-486.

Europe has used the drug for a decade, giving women early in pregnancy a chance to avoid surgery.

Most surgical abortions take half an hour or less, but the pill's drug-induced medical method can take three days. The woman is first given Mifegyne, which blocks the hormone essential for maintaining pregnancy.

After two days, she goes back to the clinic to take prostaglandin, which induces contractions, forcing the embryo or foetus out of the uterus. This second stage takes up to six hours for most patients.

A legal opinion sought from the Solicitor-General by the Abortion Supervisory Committee said that after taking the second drug, women should stay at the hospital or clinic where it was administered until the abortion was completed.

The Auckland and Christchurch District Health Board clinics say they will not offer Mifegyne until the legal problems are resolved, because their clinics open only in the day and do not have enough beds.

Dr Christine Forster, chairwoman of the abortion committee until last month, said that for many clinics "it's a problem of space".

A sexual health specialist, Dr Margaret Sparrow, said yesterday that other countries where the pill was used allowed women to leave the clinics before the abortion was completed.

"This is an example of how out of date the law is, because in 1977 they weren't thinking about medical abortion."

nzherald.co.nz/health