November 10, 2022
Phone consult for abortion medicine major advance
Te Whatu Ora Counties Manukau’s chief medical officer says the new DECIDE telehealth service is a significant advance for abortion services.
The service builds on the 2020 abortion law reform and started with free phone based support through the 0800 DECIDE line and a website with abortion information.
From this month it is able to connect women in their first 10 weeks of pregnancy for a phone consultation with a health practitioner, who if required can prescribe the medicine for an early medical abortion.
Dr Andrew Connolly says it gives women more choice about the best health care for their individual situation.
“Women in a position of thinking about having to terminate a pregnancy can be a very stressful, challenging moment so I just encourage women to reach out to people they trust, their GP as well or any support they may need, but in terms of a service this is a major advance,” he says.