RU486

Abortion doctor halts pill supply | The Courier-Mail

Peter Michael

CONTROVERSIAL Cairns doctor Caroline de Costa has stopped dispensing the abortion pill RU486 for fear of criminal prosecution.

Dr de Costa, the first Australian doctor granted approval to import and prescribe the drug, yesterday told The Courier-Mail she made the decision based on legal advice.

"Our understanding is that we and other doctors practising medical abortion in Queensland are at risk of criminal prosecution," the Cairns Base Hospital professor said.

"It is not only doctors who offer medical abortion but also our patients who are at risk," said Dr de Costa.

"I don't want to risk 14 years in jail and I certainly don't want to put a patient in that same position."

Her decision follows the charging of a Cairns teenager who allegedly self-aborted using the abortion drug Misoprostol, smuggled in from overseas.

She is due to face court in the city next week in what is a landmark test case. The 19-year-old is the first woman in more than 50 years charged in Queensland with organising her own miscarriage under a 109-year-old law.

Dr de Costa, who won a conscience vote in Federal Parliament over access to RU486, said a criminal law barrister was investigating the case.

In 2006, Federal Parliament was required to strip the Health Minister, Tony Abbott, of his power to veto the controversial drug before it turned into a conscience vote. It was passed with a large majority in the Senate and House of Representatives by women and men from all sides of politics.

RU486 is available widely overseas, can be taken orally and aborts a pregnancy without the need for invasive surgery.

The mother-of-seven said legal advice suggested she and colleague Dr Michael Carrette cease their successful three-year medical abortion practice.

"We've approached the Attorney-General and Premier seeking clarification and reassurance but they've given us no response," she said. "We want to know that we and our patients won't be charged criminally."

Under the law, surgical abortion is permitted if the woman's physical or mental health is in danger by continuing the pregnancy.

There are 14,000 surgical abortions in Queensland each year which involve counselling in a private clinic before a surgical procedure by a doctor to end the pregnancy.