Archbishop Kanishka Raffel and the Ven Kara Hartley, Archdeacon for Women’s Ministry, have expressed serious concerns about moves to drastically expand the availability of a drug that brings on an abortion.

MS-2 Step (Mifepristone and Misoprostol), also known as RU-486, has been available in Australia since 2012, but those prescribing and dispensing it had to be trained and certified.

Now the Therapeutic Goods Association has removed the requirement for special training and certification, and the drug will be more easily available through general practitioners, nurse practitioners and pharmacists. According to the Royal Australian College of GPs, the abortion drug would now be treated “just like any other medicine”.

In a joint statement, Archbishop Raffel and Archdeacon Hartley say this has happened without adequate safeguards for vulnerable women or consideration of the welfare and moral issues involved, adding that the availability of such a drug is not simply a medical issue.

“The whole point of the previous safeguards around this drug was that it has a serious moral dimension,” Archbishop Raffel and Archdeacon Hartley say. “The impact of allowing self-administration of medication which terminates the life of an unborn child up to nine weeks of gestation is profound.

“The rhetoric around this issue has been focused on access rather than the impacts of abortion. Women are often unprepared for the physical and psychological impact of terminating their own pregnancy, and without sufficient counselling are unprepared for the confronting experience of delivering a dead foetus at home. The effects can be traumatic.

“This is quite apart from the moral and spiritual dimensions of abortion, routinely ignored or dismissed in public discourse. Christians and people of many faiths recognise that abortion is a violation of the sanctity of life. This decision will be lamented by many.”

While recognising that some in society disagree with their stand against abortion, Archbishop Raffel and Archdeacon Hartley add that “surely there is widespread recognition of the need to provide adequate support for women who will have to face the consequences of an abortion in their own homes.

“The previous requirements ensured that medical practitioners prescribing RU-486 were sufficiently trained and certified for this purpose. That vital safeguard has now been removed.”

They noted that a key argument for broadening access to RU-486 is the lack of access to abortions for women in regional and remote areas. However, they argue that “removing safeguards makes it more dangerous for women in these locations who are unable to access support services, including hospitalisation in the event of complications”.

In a story in The Australian newspaper quoting the diocesan statement, the peak body representing obstetricians also expressed concern, saying the decision would place women at risk of complications, or even death.

National Association of Specialist Obstetricians and Gynae cologists president Dr Gino Pecoraro told the newspaper that the Federal Government had not properly considered the consequences of lesser-trained practitioners distributing an abortion drug.

“You can’t just start something like this,” he said. “You have to have all the infrastructure in place to deal with all of the complications and it may simply be that it’s just not safe to do this everywhere.” SC