MEDICAL abortions are being offered routinely in Australia for the first time following a successful pilot study of a methotrexate-misoprostol regimen. Marie Stopes International announced it would now offer medical abortions at six centres in NSW, Queensland and Western Australia. Dr Phillip Goldstone, Senior Doctor at Marie Stopes International, said women could be referred for a methotrexate-misoprostol termination if their pregnancy was under seven weeks' gestation.

"The advantage with medical abortion is that it can be done very early... and many women like to avoid surgery." While several abortion providers have used the regimen in selected cases, Marie Stopes clinics are the first to make it an option for any suitable client. A pilot study of 36 women conducted in NSW last year found a majority described the regimen as meeting, or exceeding, their expectations. One client required a surgical termination for a continuing pregnancy.

No adverse effects were reported from the methotrexate, with the most common side-effects from misoprostol being diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting. Most women aborted within 48 hours. Dr Goldstone said mifepristone (RU-486) could be used in Marie Stopes clinics if it became freely available to buy via a pharmaceutical company.

Professor Caroline de Costa, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at James Cook University in Cairns, and one of only two authorised prescribers of mifepristone in the country, said Australian women were still being denied the drug 15 months after the Harradine amendment limiting access to it was overturned.

The Cairns doctors fielded an average 10 to 15 referrals a week but the drug could only be used in cases of life-threatening pregnancy or severe foetal abnormalities.