Page 2917 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 15 August 2018
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around women’s health in the ACT and ensuring that we continue to work on improving opportunities for women to access important health services, particularly when it comes to reproduction and sexual health.
Ms Cody’s motion notes that the ACT government has been a historical leader in abortion law reform. I am very proud of the work my father did in introducing that legislation when he worked in this Assembly. Indeed, across this country today that conversation continues, and other states and territories are starting to work on bills and legislation to ensure that accessing abortion is considered a health matter and not a criminal matter and that it protects women and their reproductive choices.
Women should have the right to seek advice and support on their health wherever they need to, whether that is with a medical practitioner or a pharmacist, to ensure the support and the health supports they need are freely available without judgement wherever they need it. As Ms Le Couteur referred to, condoms, tampons, pads, reproductive support services, pills, IUDs and various other reproductive health medications are generally freely available. But, unfortunately, there remains a stigma when it comes to women seeking abortion, whether medical or surgical. That conversation still needs to occur.
I know women in the ACT are keen to ensure they get the chance to access other kinds of health services, particularly when it comes to abortion. The law reforms that regulate access to abortion mean that women in the ACT are not harassed or made to feel uncomfortable when seeking a legal abortion. We have a legal abortion facility in the ACT to ensure that women have safe and accessible health care. This is very important health care for women in the ACT and something that I, the Labor Party and the ACT government are keen to ensure continues. We will continue our work to make sure that women continue to have access to this service without being harassed or made to feel uncomfortable, stigmatised or judged in any way.
I am also very pleased to see that the motion explores the requirement for pharmacies to make sure that they clearly display signage to inform consumers in plain language which particular reproductive health products they do or do not supply. The suggestion that that could include online advice is also a good way forward.
The individual Mrs Dunne’s office spoke to within the Pharmacy Guild might not have heard about this motion. This is about having a conversation with pharmacists about how we can make sure that women seeking reproductive health products can easily find a pharmacist who will provide those products so a woman does not have to go to a number of different pharmacists to find the support she needs or google away online to find where to go. I am confident that in the ACT many pharmacies will be happy and proud to display in a helpful way information for women to make sure they are able to access these health products.
I am also keen to see how these representative organisations that Mrs Dunne has referred to are engaged in these conversations. I think we will see that these days that there is much more support for women seeking health services.
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