Advocates are pushing to line up the Northern Territory’s abortion laws with the rest of the country.

At the moment, all abortions in NT must be performed in a hospital and under anaesthetic, and be overseen by both a specialist obstetrician and a gynaecologist.

This means many women are left without access, expecially if they live outside od Darwin or Alice Springs.

The NT Government has announced it is looking at changing legislation to permit use of the abortion pill RU486 outside of hospitals.

This would allow women up to nine weeks pregnant to chemically trigger a miscarriage at home, if they have approval from a medical professional.

Attorney-General Natasha Fyles says the Medical Services Act could be modified even further to allow medical terminations to be performed in day surgeries and specialist clinics.

Planned reforms also include setting up safe access zones around abortion clinics to protect patients and workers from protesters, and ensuring doctors who conscientiously object to terminations refer women to another doctor.

“This is a discussion that was had around the rest of the world 20 years ago and the use of the drug RU486 was allowed in Australia 10 years ago, so I feel that Territory women, we are behind in this area,” Ms Fyles said.

“This piece of legislation, if passed by the NT Parliament, will modernise and provide us with a contemporary medical services act that respects the choices of Territory women.”

The Country Liberals support the changes.

“There is a fundamental lack of fairness that Territory women do not have access to a drug that women can source everywhere else in Australia,” Opposition Leader Gary Higgins said

Opponents include the staunchly-Catholic Independent Member for Nelson Gerry Wood.

“I think the unborn has every right to live,” Mr Wood said.

He believes medical abortions are not safe.

“Why are you promoting that women put a drug in their body to kill off an unborn human life and at the same time risk haemorrhaging, pain, even death in some cases, and maybe take up to several weeks or even longer to have that abortion?”

More details on the proposed changes are available here.