The Greens will push for a parliamentary inquiry into abortion access in Australia, particularly in regional and remote Australia.
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A "postcode lottery" of service availability means a legal right does not mean women will be able to access abortion services in their area, says Greens spokeswoman on women Larissa Waters.
"Abortion remains expensive and inaccessible for many, especially those who already face massive healthcare barriers, including First Nations people and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds," Senator Waters said.
"In the wake of Roe v Wade, the federal government should look at what it can do to eliminate Australia's barriers to accessible and affordable abortion."
Different rules, costs and availability all depend on where you live, she said, with some people having to travel for hours at significant expense to access a pregnancy termination.
"The impacts of poor sexual health literacy, lack of access to contraceptives and quality reproductive healthcare are clear. This inquiry would provide an invaluable insight into the barriers people are facing and ways to fix them, and we urge all other Senators to support it."
The Labor government says it supports improving equity of access to pregnancy termination services, which is an objective of the National Women's Health Strategy, but has not outlined how it intended to achieve that.
Health Minister Mark Butler said on Monday the government was "working internally" with Minister for Women Katy Gallagher and Assistant Health Minister Ged Kearney on how they would lift and improve abortion access equity for women across Australia.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed in July his government would not revive a previous Labor policy to require public hospitals to provide abortion services as part of their federal funding arrangements.
West Australian independent MP Kate Chaney and non-profit provider MSI Australia have also called for harmonisation of abortion laws in Australia since the United States Supreme Court overturned the Roe v Wade decision that enshrined protection for abortion in the US in June.
In Western Australia, abortion is still in the criminal code.
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Harley Dennett
Former federal politics bureau chief for the Canberra Times, via a career that's taken me from rural Victoria to Washington DC. Telling the stories of my local LGBTI community brought me to political journalism, where I've covered eight budgets, four national elections in two countries, Defence, public service and international governance.
Former federal politics bureau chief for the Canberra Times, via a career that's taken me from rural Victoria to Washington DC. Telling the stories of my local LGBTI community brought me to political journalism, where I've covered eight budgets, four national elections in two countries, Defence, public service and international governance.
