Providing abortion services
There are several considerations for health practitioners and service providers planning to start offering abortion services within primary care and community settings. Some of these are outlined below.
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Supporting abortion services closer to home
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) and the Ministry of Health | Manatū Hauora are committed to ensure quality abortion services are equitable and accessible to all people who wish to access them. A key part of this is supporting primary care and community providers to start offering in-person early medical abortion services. This means fewer people will need to travel to access abortion services and can access services closer to home.
The following information is designed to support healthcare professionals considering to provide abortion services.
Who can provide abortion services
A wide range of registered health practitioners can now provide abortions. This includes doctors, midwives, nurse practitioners and registered nurses.
Registered health practitioners can only perform surgical abortions or prescribe medicines for medical abortions if:
- it is a health service permitted within their scope of practice
- the practitioner holds a current practicing certificate
- the practitioner has the necessary qualifications, skills, competency and resources to provide abortion services in accordance with the Ministry's New Zealand Aotearoa Abortion Clinical Guideline. (external link)
Training and support
Health practitioners will need to ensure that providing abortion services is within the scope of their practice and that they have the appropriate training, guidance, and support. This may include:
- reviewing the New Zealand Aotearoa Abortion Clinical Guideline for best practice care
- completing the nationally available online training provided through the New Zealand College of Sexual and Reproductive Health (NZCSRH) on the BPAC website (available from November 2022 onwards)
- engaging with information and resources provided by your professional college.
New Zealand College of Sexual and Reproductive Health — Training (external link)
Providers may also benefit from joining relevant practitioner peer networks or professional organisations. The Abortion Providers Group Aotearoa New Zealand (APGANZ) and NZ College of Sexual and Reproductive Health (NZCSRH) offer peer support and professional development for abortion providers. You may wish to join one or both of these organisations.
Abortion Providers Group Aotearoa New Zealand (APGANZ) (external link)
New Zealand College of Sexual and Reproductive Health (NZCSRH) (external link)
More information on training and guidelines for abortion providers can be found here:
Guidelines and training for abortion service providers (external link)
Access to funding
Lead Maternity Carers (LMCs) including GPs and midwives, can receive funding for abortion services under the Primary Maternity Notice 2021. The following document provides further information to guide claimants on what payment modules are associated with termination of pregnancy related services.
Registration and reporting requirements
The Ministry are responsible for reporting on the provision of abortion care in New Zealand under the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion (CSA) Act 1977. If you are currently, or interested in, providing abortion services in New Zealand, contact Health NZ or the Ministry to register your service details on the contact information below.
Contact the Abortion services team by email: abortionservices@tewhatuora.govt.nz
Abortion service providers are required to submit an electronic notification report for every abortion performed, using the electronic form available on the Ministry's website.
Notification of abortion — Ministry of Health (external link)
It is a legislative requirement that reports are submitted within one month of the abortion. You can read more information about abortion reporting on the Ministrys' website.
Awareness of service
Providers should consider how people will know that they are now providing abortion services. This may include updating website information and other communications.
The DECIDE website publishes provider information. Providers can choose not to have their name and contact details published on this list by advising the Ministry or Health NZ when they register.
Connections to local services
Providers may find it helpful to make key stakeholders aware of their new service and ensure they have principal points of contact within their local area. This may include:
- local hospital (abortion service or women’s health/gynaecology service)
- pharmacy (Healthpoint hold a list of pharmacists supplying EMA medications)
- other sexual health services
- kaupapa Māori or iwi-based health services.
Additional support
There may be some aspects of abortion services that providers are not able to provide or need support to provide. Providers should consider which organisations they may work with to ensure that people under their care receive quality and equitable abortion services.
For example, you will need to establish:
- local care pathways to manage complications
- links to the DECIDE national telehealth service to support urgent out of hours clinical care and provide abortion counselling services
- local care pathways to long-acting reversible contraception and other contraceptive options if you do not provide these services.
Abortion is a sensitive topic and may be difficult for some people. Talk to your employer if you need support, including access to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). You can also free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor.