George, in Australia there are many GP's who have also done some obstetric studies and they can and do look after pregnant women before, during and after labour.
If the abortion is attended in the early stages of pregnancy then any general or Gynae surgeon can do the abortion.

Apparently, GP' s are meant to refer on to others if they are unwilling or unable to help someone. I don't see a problem with that.
They are not meant to judge patients on the grounds of race, ethnicity, religion etc.
Even so, they are not made to see any patient they don't want to.

Ozzie, APHRA can and do take away registrations of medical professionals if need be.
They most certainly will also be advocates for the medical professionals if their enquiries show that patients or clients lied or were out for revenge etc.

Suseonline,

Thanks again.

>>in Australia there are many GP's who have also done some obstetrics studies and they can and do look after pregnant women before, during and after labour.<<

What does “some obstetric studies mean”, is the GP also a fully qiualified obstetrician? Then the article should have been about an obstetrician acting rightly or wrongly, not a GP. After all, the “general” in the GP should mean exactly that: they have only a general training in all sorts of medical branches, including obstetrics.

Here in Germany it would be very rare for a GP to be also a fully qualified specialist e.g. obstetrician. When a women is pregnant, she goes to her GP just for a confirmation and a referral to a specialist obstetrician. Also, I have been told, it is normal for a female adult, pregnant or not, to have her gynecologist whom she sees - after referrals from her GP - on a more or less regular basis.

So my suspicion about the Australian situation being different from that in Germany seems to have been right.

Now I also understand why in Australia the question of recommending or not for an abortion (and the psychological, moral and/or legal ramifications associated with it) concerns not only gynecologists/obstetricians but also the much larger number of “general” practitioners.

I agree that the earlier in pregnancy the less “surgical skill” is needed to perform an abortion, although I think not only surgery, but also all sorts of possible psychological side effects are involved that an average GP might not be able to handle. But that is a different question.

dear Susieonline,
You ask how I propose to prevent women from aborting their own fetuses.
I don't really think that is the issue. If abortion was not so readily available, I think people would be more likely to be careful to prevent pregnancy in the first place, or in the case of unplanned pregnancy, to value and raise that child. This requires a change in our attitudes. We should, as a society be valuing our children, not killing them for the sake of avoiding an inconvenience. We do not have enough children to even replace our numbers. There are virtually no children available for adoption. It is not as if these children would not be wanted by someone. While the carrying of the baby to term is certainly an impost on the mother, it is surely less than the impost of a termination on the baby. Is this impost greater than the impost on a man who unintentionally gets a woman pregnant, and finds himself liable for child support for the next 20 years?
You ask where men stand in this. At present, men have all responsibility and no choice at all. If my wife decided to abort my child, I have no say whatsoever in it. If on the other hand, she got pregnant and I didn't want the child, I have no means of having that baby destroyed. Its all very well saying its a woman’s body and no one else has any interest in it, but other people are seriously involved in this. From the perspective of the father, he stands to lose his offspring before it is even born, or in the case he doesn't want the child, the responsibility of caring for it, financially at least for decades into the future.
We all acknowledge that it is traumatic for a woman to lose a wanted pregnancy through miscarriage or through an act of violence perpetrated on her. Why do we completely ignore the interest of men in their unborn offspring?

Rhys Jones, I am sorry but it IS an issue, otherwise we wouldn't need to have our current safe, legal abortion laws. How would we police that?

Of course the father is involved in any pregnancy of his sexual partner, but I would suggest that in most cases of abortion the father either doesn't want to know or hasn't been told, so his views may not always count.

Men's rights in the pregnancies of their partners can only go so far obviously, given that they are not the ones with so much physical and hormonal involvement in the actual pregnancy, and that fact is something that many men feel they have no control over and can feel powerless. I understand that.

The rights or not of fathers in this debate, and the resulting financial care of unwanted pregnancies or children is another thread discussion altogether.

I strongly feel we must find other ways to reduce or stop the numbers of abortions in Australia other than making them illegal, such as free contraception, because stopping legal abortions will take us back to the dark ages and severely restrict women's rights.

Oh Lord, if you hire a tradesman to do a job they do it...but would that job mean that a life is terminated in the process?

Good on Dr Hobart and all the GP's that deal with this situation on a daily basis and refuse to have blood on their hands. The awful truth is that anyone can have an abortion without GP referral and the internet readily provides you with your nearest slaughter house, without having to involve your GP.

And yes abortion is legal but we live in a free country that upholds freedom of speech and religious rights for all. This law slaps that in the face and makes a mockery of democracy, get rid of it now!

What Susie has said is misleading
1) GP are in many circumstances made to see patients, they do not always have a choice.
2) AHPRA does not advocate for the medical profession. Patients are able to lie and deceive and AHPRA will often not investigate.

A more important point in this debate is why are we allowing/importing backward cultures that think it is acceptable to want to abort a fetus because it is female. We do not need these stupid immigrants taking advantage of our country.