Private First Trimester Abortions in Queanbeyan
Gynaecology Centres Australia (GCA) has been providing first-trimester abortion services in Queanbeyan since 1999. We have been very proud to provide women in NSW and the ACT with safe, dignified surgical abortions under NSW law, and this clinic location has enabled us to serve the particular needs of women in country NSW areas including Yass, Goulburn, Cooma, Albury-Wodonga, Orange, Wagga Wagga, and many others, as well as women living in the ACT.
We also provide IUD insertions under sedation and an array of other essential women’s health services.
We also have clinic locations in Sydney, Newcastle, Gosford, and Wollongong.
Our Queanbeyan clinic is currently at risk of closure as a result of declining bookings due to the free abortion services now being offered in the ACT – but exclusively for ACT women. This has placed significant financial pressure on our clinic – and country NSW women will be the ones to suffer as a result if GCA is forced to close its Queanbeyan clinic’s doors.
By closing a significant service will only reduce abortion services more. This is not the intention of governments since abortion became completely legalised in 2019 in NSW. But it is impossible to compete with a service that has no cost to the patient in ACT, “next door” to Queanbeyan NSW.
Gynaecology Centres Australia – Our Story
Founded in the late 1990s, GCA sought to provide top-quality abortion services to women outside Sydney.
Until the late 1990s, almost all abortion service providers were based in the centre of Sydney CBD or within a 5km radius. NSW and ACT women in semi-urban, semi-rural, and country areas were severely under-served, and the commute to Sydney for an abortion was difficult if not impossible for many.
GCA specifically selected Queanbeyan as one of our clinic locations to help address the severe restrictions on abortion that were present in the ACT at that time. One of our goals was to provide women with dignified pregnancy termination services under NSW law, as there was no law against women crossing the border from the ACT into NSW to have an abortion.
Part of our commitment to women was that they
- not be exposed to a 3-day “cooling off” period
- not be shown images of foetuses during the development of a pregnancy
- not be placed under any emotional duress
in order to be “allowed” to have an abortion.
This has worked for women in country NSW and Canberra/the ACT for the last 26 years.
Current Circumstances Impacting GCA’s Queanbeyan Clinic
GCA receives no government funding. As such, we are unable to provide free abortions.
The ACT government currently funds another Canberra-based private abortion provider to deliver free abortions for all women who are resident in the ACT – regardless of their Australian citizenship and Medicare card-holder status. All they need is a registered ACT address. This free service, however, is not available for women in NSW – even if their address is just over the border, including in Queanbeyan.
Earlier in 2024, it was made clear by the ACT government that, despite serving many hundreds of women from the ACT over 25 years, GCA is not eligible for funding to provide free abortions for ACT women. We were not consulted prior to this decision, and it was based entirely on our clinic location just over the border in NSW and the fact that we also serve NSW women (because the ACT government is funded by the ACT taxpayer).
As a result, our Queanbeyan clinic client numbers have dropped dramatically – and at this time, our other NSW clinics are subsidising GCA Queanbeyan. This is not sustainable.
We completely understand why ACT women choose to have a free abortion rather than paying – costs are not insignificant and we appreciate the financial implications many women must consider.
A further blow for NSW women landed with the recent ban on public abortion procedures (which were provided for free) at Queanbeyan Hospital and Orange Hospital.
We have significant concerns that, without funding from the NSW government, GCA will be forced to close its Queanbeyan clinic – and it is NSW women who will suffer the consequences if this is the case.
The Critical Role of Private Abortion Providers
Some public hospitals in NSW provide abortion services, which women can access for free. While on the surface this may seem like a great solution, it has several distinct drawbacks for women:
- Waiting times for public hospital services are not conducive to the time-sensitive nature of pregnancy termination. It is critical that women be afforded prompt abortion services and not be forced to wait – and the further a pregnancy progresses, the greater the physiological and psychological considerations and impacts.
- The importance of an experienced doctor can’t be understated. Performed properly, an abortion has minimal impact on a woman’s future health or fertility. Private abortion providers like GCA are extremely experienced. Unlike in a public hospital where the proceduralist performing the abortion could be a doctor-in-training or a relatively junior doctor, GCA’s doctors have performed thousands of these procedures over several decades. Thanks to this level of experience, first-trimester surgical abortion in Australia has been a low-risk procedure for decades.
- Public hospitals are staffed by a diverse range of healthcare professionals, and not all will wish to support abortion services due to their religious, cultural, or personal beliefs. Some may conscientiously object to participating in or supporting the care women need and deserve as it relates to terminating a pregnancy. Private, dedicated abortion clinics are, on the other hand, operated by healthcare providers who have no such issues, and their commitment to women, their choices, and the care they need is unwavering.
What’s the Solution?
The NSW Government needs to step up for women.
It is extremely difficult for us to compete with the free Canberra abortion service, and GCA is in dire need of the same funding as is available in Canberra for ACT-based women.
The Public Health system really isn’t the answer, either. Even if abortion services at Queanbeyan Hospital and/or Orange Hospital were to resume, the overly-stretched public system would be unable to best serve the needs of women who, with complicated or unplanned pregnancies, should – and must – not be kept waiting for the basic healthcare they need once they have decided to not proceed with a pregnancy. This is imperative for their health and well-being physically, psychosocially, and emotionally.
With such financial support from the NSW government, GCA could continue to provide prompt, free abortion services to NSW country women in our modern surgery in Queanbeyan, delivered by our dedicated, experienced team of doctors and other healthcare professionals.
It would be a win for the NSW state government as well. By channelling women to existing abortion clinics, the government would fulfil their promise to provide free abortion services, yet not further burden our struggling public health system.
Moreover, the cost to the government of providing free abortions at existing private clinics like ours would be significantly more affordable than offering these services in public hospitals, thanks to our efficiency and experience.
Such requests have to date been denied by NSW politicians.
Contact Gynaecology Centres Australia
First-trimester abortion, when performed by an experienced proceduralist, is 11 times safer than natural childbirth. GCA Queanbeyan must be financially viable to be able to provide this service.
If given the required funding, GCA will be able to offer these services for free in a professional and timely manner – supporting the women of country NSW in Queanbeyan as we have been doing for more than 25 years.
Please contact your local Member of Parliament (State) to let them know this matters to you.
Contact us today to book a consultation for prompt, compassionate, gold-standard surgical abortion services in Queanbeyan.
We also have clinics in Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle, and Gosford.
Contact us online or call (02) 9585 9599.