Day 2 | Session 5 | Concurrent | Access to abortion

Second trimester abortion access: addressing our patients’ needs

As patients enter the second trimester, options for abortion care drop dramatically. Patients outside of major cities are disproportionately impacted by the lack of available services. 

This talk will discuss the importance of offering choice in later abortion services, and highlight the need for additional training to meet patients’ needs. 

Dr Rachel Rapkin
Clinical Lead, Te Mahoe Unit

Access to feticide integral to abortion care

Access to feticide (induced fetal demise) is a prerequisite for abortion care after 22 weeks’ gestation. Difficulties accessing feticidal injection can place significant strain on abortion providers and patients alike. Feticidal injection is also important for abortion care prior to 22 weeks’ gestation, although this has been significantly underutilised in the Australasian context.

We describe the importance of feticidal injection to comprehensive and holistic abortion care, explaining how access to this service has been improved over the last 3 years in New Zealand. 

Dr Richard Carpenter
Obstetrician Gynaecologist
Nelson Marlborough District

Richard is the Clinical Lead for Abortion Services at Nelson-Marlborough District, New Zealand, and works to expand access to abortion care alongside RANZCOG, APGANZ, NZCSRH, and most recently by partnering in training with the National Abortion Federation.   

Richard is heavily involved in research, holding Honorary Lecturer status at the University of Auckland, and is working towards a Master of Medical Law and Bioethics at the University of Otago. His current research includes peri-operative surgical technique and the practise and ethics of complex abortion care.  

Teamwork makes the dream work: establishing an abortion service in a rural setting 

Locality remains one of the most notable barriers to equitable and accessible abortion care in Aotearoa; with rural communities significantly impacted. 

This talk will chart the experiences, helping hands  and hurdles setting up a locally accessible abortion service in Te Whatu Ora Te Tai o Poutini West Coast, to inform and empower others to do the same. 

Dr Coleen Caldwell
Medical Officer, Christchurch Women's Hospital
Clinical Lecturer, University of Otago

Coleen is an abortion provider at Christchurch Women's Hospital, Clinical Lecturer in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Otago | Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, and current chair of the Abortion Providers Group Aotearoa New Zealand (APGANZ). 

Abortion is a human right and health issue: disabled people’s experiences of access to abortion services in Aotearoa

Abortion is both a human right and a health issue. Under Article 25 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), disabled people have the right to the highest attainable standard of health without discrimination on the basis of disability. This includes the same range, quality and standard of free or affordable health care and programmes as provided to non-disabled people, including in the area of sexual and reproductive health. 

While little was previously known about disabled people’s experiences of abortion services in Aotearoa New Zealand, international research shows that disabled people have a complex relationship with sexual and reproductive health due to the historical and contemporary experiences of eugenics. In particular, this includes access to abortion services, as well as the right to continue with a pregnancy. To ensure that disabled people have access to the health services and supports they have a right to and deserve, there is an urgent and critical need to apply a disability lens to the delivery of abortion services both in Aotearoa New Zealand and globally.

In this presentation, the Donald Beasley Institute will share findings from a recently completed study that explored the experiences of disabled people who had accessed a range of abortion-related services in Aotearoa New Zealand. The research was designed to help the New Zealand Government’s Ministry of Health learn more about disabled people’s experiences with abortion services. A better understanding of disabled people’s experiences is now enabling the Ministry of Health to address matters of equity and access and deliver more inclusive and accessible abortion services for tākata whaikaha (Māori disabled people), D/deaf and disabled people in Aotearoa New Zealand. This research has also contributed to the Government’s five-year review of the Abortion Legislation Act 2020, which decriminalised abortion in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Dr Robbie Francis Watene
Disabled Research Lead
Donald Beasley Institute

Dr Robbie Francis Watene is a disabled leader, scholar and advocate from South Auckland. With 36 years lived experience of disability, Robbie has worked in the disability sector for over 17 years as a support worker, humanitarian documentarian, social entrepreneur, researcher, consultant, and advisor. 

She has experience working with disabled people in France, Bangladesh, India, Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador, and has also spearheaded international research on gender, war and disability rights. 

Robbie is Disabled Research Lead at the Donald Beasley Institute (DBI). Formally established in 1984, the DBI is a national and international leader in disability and family research. All DBI research projects are led by experienced/emerging disabled researchers. In this role, she oversees a range of disabled-led and disability inclusive human rights research projects, including 'Abortion is a Human Right and Health Issue: Disabled People’s Experiences of Abortion Services in Aotearoa New Zealand'.