Cost of abortions causing Queensland women to consider self-harm, study reveals

Queensland women are self-harming and searching for pills on the black market to induce abortions as they face chronic delays, financial pressures and a lack of support from healthcare providers, a new study has found.

The research revealed that 43% of clients had been exposed to family or intimate partner violence, including reproductive coercion and abuse.

Clients frequently expressed anxiety about how they would afford abortions, with more than 42% seeking financial assistance to access a termination.

Out-of-pocket costs for abortion can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending on the complexity and gestation period.

A 24-year-old woman told a counsellor she considered self-abortion and suicide when quoted the price of a termination.

Another client, the mother of a 16-year-old, said her daughter had attempted to induce self-abortion through self-harm.

The study found women faced unsupportive behaviour and attitudes from healthcare practitioners who gave incorrect or misleading advice.

It comes after the closure of clinics operated by private non-for-profit healthcare service Marie Stopes in Southport, Townsville and Rockhampton has created increased demand in south-east Queensland, blowing out wait times by up to six weeks in some cases.

Kelleher said in May that some regional Queenslanders were having to travel hundreds of kilometres to Brisbane to access a publicly funded termination.