Dr. Nisha Cott

Maternal death rates have increased by 50% because women cannot access abortion care.

But it's not just about abortion care.

Then women cannot access miscarriage care.

They cannot access pregnancy care that is actually life-saving for them.

We have to fight against this.

I think it's really important that we are very clear that those abortions form 1% of all of the abortions that happen in Australia.

And they are made in really traumatic, difficult situations where women often want the pregnancy, but they're faced with a situation where the baby has something that is life-threatening, life-limiting.

And they're making these decisions in really difficult circumstances with very little time.

if we make it even more difficult for them, that is only going to add to trauma.

It's not going to make care better for them.

The College's position is very clear, Priya.

Individual practitioners can be objectors, conscientious objectors, that is their right.

They have a duty to refer women who approach them for abortion to another provider who should be able to provide them with abortion care.

And publicly funded taxpayer money should be used to provide the full gamut of legal health care in Australia.

And that should include abortion care, contraception, sterilization, every single thing that is legally available to women in Australia.

Removing abortion rights has never, ever reduced the number of abortions that women have.

It has just made abortion unsafe for women and it will kill women.

So it's really important for us to be clear about that.

Taking away legal abortion rights will not reduce the number of abortions that happen.

It will only reduce the safety of abortions.