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Did you know

  • Abortion is one of the most common surgical procedures in Australia
  • Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures in Australia. It is 10 times safer than childbirth and around 200 times safer than an appendicectomy
  • Around one in three Australian women will undergo an abortion
  • Studies show that between half and two thirds of all women presenting for abortion were using contraception at the time. A safely performed abortion with no complications doesn’t reduce a woman’s future fertility
  • Accordingly to The Australian Survey of Social Attitudes 2003, 81.2% of Australians, regardless of gender or religion, agree that ‘women should have the right to choose an abortion’.
  • An overwhelming indication from clinical studies is that the legal and voluntary termination of pregnancy rarely causes immediate or lasting negative psychological consequences in healthy women.

References:

  • An information paper on termination of pregnancy in Australia (1996), National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
  • Better Health Channel: Abortion in Australia factsheet
  • Bonevski, Billie and Adams 2001 Psychological Effects of the Termination of Pregnancy, Newcastle Institute of Public Health, Newcastle.
  • Palmer, Dr D. (1999), 'Contraception and abortion', in HealthSharing Women, February 1999, vol. 9, no. 3, Women's Health Victoria, Melbourne
  • The Australian Survey of Social Attitudes 2003 dataset, Australian National University, ACSPRI Centre for Social Research