New Australian research has found that removing restrictions on abortion medication was associated with a substantial increase in the number of pharmacies ordering the treatment, bringing Australia closer to a healthcare system where abortion is more readily available through ordinary medical services.
Published in JAMA Network Open on 7 October 2026, the study examined what happened after Australia removed additional prescribing and dispensing restrictions on mifepristone, one of the medications used in early medical abortion.
The findings are encouraging. Nearly 1,900 more pharmacies ordered abortion medication during the two years following the reforms than during the preceding two years, with increases recorded across every state and territory.
However, the research also raises an important question: Does making abortion medication more widely available mean that everyone can access the care they need?
What changed in Australia's abortion medication rules?
Medical abortion commonly involves two medications, mifepristone and misoprostol, which work together to end an early pregnancy.
Mifepristone blocks the action of progesterone, a hormone necessary to maintain pregnancy. Misoprostol causes the uterus to contract and expel the pregnancy tissue.
In Australia, these medications are available together as MS-2 Step and, since June 2026, as a generic product called Arzestra.
Before August 2023, healthcare professionals and pharmacists faced additional regulatory requirements to prescribe or dispense MS-2 Step. Doctors needed specific certification, and pharmacists had to register with the medication's Australian sponsor before they could supply it.
These requirements created an additional administrative process beyond the professional qualifications ordinarily needed to prescribe or dispense medicines.
On 1 August 2023, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) removed these restrictions. The changes meant that appropriately qualified and trained healthcare practitioners could prescribe MS-2 Step without the previous certification requirement, while registered pharmacists no longer needed special accreditation to dispense it.
The reforms also created greater opportunities for nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives to provide medical abortion care, subject to their professional qualifications and the laws governing practice in each state and territory.
The intention was to make abortion medication more accessible through general practice, community pharmacies and other primary healthcare services.
Three years later, researchers have examined whether those changes made a measurable difference.
What did the researchers discover?
Researchers from La Trobe University, Monash University and collaborating organisations examined pharmacy ordering data from across Australia.
They compared two periods:
August 2021 to July 2023, before the restrictions were removed.
August 2023 to July 2025, after the restrictions were removed.
The researchers found that 2,228 pharmacies ordered mifepristone and misoprostol at least once during the two years before the reform, compared with 4,107 pharmacies during the two years afterwards. That represents an increase of approximately 84% in the number of pharmacies ordering the medication across the two periods.
The researchers also examined monthly ordering patterns to distinguish changes associated with the reform from increases that were already occurring.
By July 2025, they estimated that approximately 446 more pharmacies were ordering the medication each month than would have been expected if the previous trend had continued. This represented a 48.6% increase above the expected level, providing evidence of a substantial association between the regulatory reform and improved pharmacy availability.
The geographic distribution of the medication also expanded. Across the two periods, the number of Australian postcode areas containing at least one pharmacy that ordered the medication increased from 915 to 1,292.
This represents a meaningful improvement in the distribution of abortion medication across the country.
However, there are important limitations to what these figures can tell us.
The study measured pharmacy orders, not individual prescriptions dispensed to patients. It also excluded medication supplied through a single mail-order pharmacy associated with a national telehealth abortion service.
The researchers noted that, following the 2023 reforms, more telehealth patients began collecting their medication from local pharmacies rather than receiving it by mail. Some of the increased pharmacy ordering may therefore reflect a change in where medication was supplied, rather than entirely new access to treatment.
The findings demonstrate expanded pharmacy supply pathways, but they do not establish how many additional people obtained an abortion because of the reforms.
What about regional and remote Australia?
One of the most important aspects of the research concerns communities outside Australia's major cities.
People living in regional and remote areas frequently face additional barriers to reproductive healthcare. These can include long travel distances, limited local providers, appointment delays and the financial burden of accessing services away from home.
The study found improvements across metropolitan, regional and remote communities.
In regional Australia, the number of postcode areas with at least one pharmacy ordering abortion medication increased from 311 to 460. In remote areas, that figure rose from 39 to 69.
These are encouraging findings, particularly for communities where accessing specialist reproductive healthcare may involve considerable travel.
However, the benefits were not evenly distributed.
The researchers found that the greatest relative increases in ordering pharmacies occurred in major cities and the least socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, although improvements were recorded across all geographic and socioeconomic categories. The expansion in postcode coverage was also most pronounced in major cities
This finding is important because it demonstrates both the success and the limitations of removing regulatory barriers.
Making a medication easier to prescribe and dispense can improve its availability nationally, but it does not necessarily resolve the structural disadvantages affecting people in regional communities or those experiencing financial hardship.
For someone living several hours from a specialist reproductive healthcare service, being able to collect prescribed medication from a nearby pharmacy may make a meaningful difference. Yet a local pharmacy is only one part of the healthcare pathway.
People still need access to appropriately qualified prescribers, timely appointments and affordable treatment.
These broader considerations extend beyond what the study directly measured, but they remain essential to understanding whether improved medication distribution translates into equitable healthcare.
Why does pharmacy access matter beyond convenience?
The ability to obtain medication through an ordinary community pharmacy can have implications beyond reducing travel.
For some people, accessing abortion care involves navigating difficult personal circumstances, including concerns about privacy, family relationships, employment or financial independence.
A person experiencing reproductive coercion may face additional challenges if someone else monitors their movements, controls their finances or interferes with their healthcare decisions.
Reproductive coercion occurs when another person attempts to control someone's reproductive choices, including decisions about contraception, pregnancy or abortion.
Having more healthcare providers and pharmacies available may create additional options for obtaining care safely and discreetly. It may also reduce the need to attend unfamiliar services or travel outside someone's community.
However, greater local availability does not automatically guarantee privacy or safety. For people experiencing coercive control, decisions about where and how to access care may require individual consideration and appropriate support.
Accessible healthcare is not simply about having a service available. It is also about whether someone can use that service safely, affordably and on their own terms.
Does this mean abortion is now easy to access?
Not necessarily.
The study provides compelling evidence that removing additional regulatory barriers was associated with improved pharmacy availability. However, it did not examine whether patients could obtain appointments, whether medication was immediately in stock, what patients paid or how they experienced care.
It also did not measure the total number of abortions performed or assess clinical safety outcomes.
These distinctions matter because access to abortion involves several connected parts of the healthcare system.
A person may live near a pharmacy willing to dispense abortion medication but still struggle to find a local prescriber. Another may obtain an appointment but face costs they cannot afford.
There is also an important question about choice of abortion method.
The researchers specifically highlighted that improving medication abortion access must be accompanied by greater access to procedural abortion, particularly through publicly funded services in regional and remote Australia.
Procedural abortion, sometimes called surgical abortion, involves a medical procedure to end a pregnancy. Although medical abortion is safe and effective for appropriately assessed patients, it is not everyone's preferred or clinically suitable option.
Australian procedural abortion services remain concentrated in metropolitan areas, limiting the options available to some regional patients.
Earlier Australian research cited by the authors found that, by 2020, people in outer regional and remote communities were nearly four times as likely to use medical rather than procedural abortion compared with people living in major cities.
The researchers suggested this difference reflected the limited availability of procedural abortion services outside metropolitan areas.
Meaningful reproductive choice means having access to appropriate options, not simply whichever treatment happens to be available locally.
What does this research mean for Australia's future?
The findings provide valuable Australian evidence that reducing additional regulatory requirements can improve the availability of abortion medication.
They also complement research from Canada, where removing comparable restrictions was associated with improved access to medical abortion.
For policymakers and healthcare organisations, the findings support continued investment in primary care, regional services, professional education and affordable reproductive healthcare.
They also demonstrate why regulatory reform should be understood as one part of a broader approach to improving access, rather than a complete solution.
Australia has since taken another step forward. In October 2026, the TGA expanded the approved use of MS-2 Step from nine to 10 weeks of pregnancy, although the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme had not yet extended its subsidy to cover the additional week as at 3 November.
This is a separate reform from the 2023 changes examined in the study. The newer generic product, Arzestra, also has its own regulatory approval, currently covering medical abortion up to nine weeks.
Together, these developments reflect continuing changes to how medical abortion is regulated and delivered in Australia.
The challenge now is ensuring that regulatory progress translates into consistent, affordable and genuinely accessible healthcare.
Reproductive autonomy is about more than removing restrictions
Abortion is healthcare, but the circumstances in which people seek it are rarely identical.
Some people approach an abortion decision with certainty. Others need time, information or space to consider their circumstances. Some are navigating complex relationships, financial pressures or experiences of reproductive coercion.
For many, the decision itself is not the difficult part. Accessing the healthcare they have already decided they want can be the greater challenge.
This distinction is important.
At Progressive Therapeutic Counselling, reproductive autonomy means respecting people's capacity to make informed decisions about their own bodies, relationships and futures.
Abortion-affirming counselling does not assume that abortion is inherently distressing, that someone must feel conflicted or that emotional support is always necessary.
Instead, it provides a confidential, non-judgemental space when someone wants to explore their decision, process an experience or understand how their personal circumstances may be influencing their choices.
The same approach applies to people experiencing reproductive coercion. Supporting autonomy requires attention to safety, power and the freedom to make decisions without pressure.
The new Australian research offers encouraging evidence that removing unnecessary restrictions can make reproductive healthcare more accessible.
The next step is ensuring that access is not determined by someone's postcode, income, relationship circumstances or ability to navigate a complicated healthcare system.
Because the measure of meaningful reproductive choice is not simply whether a treatment is legally available, but whether people can obtain the care they need, in the way that is right for them.
Where to get information and support
1800 My Options (Victoria)
A free, confidential service providing information about abortion, contraception, pregnancy options and reproductive healthcare services.
Phone: 1800 696 784
Website: 1800myoptions.org.au
MSI Australia (National)
Provides information about medical and procedural abortion, including telehealth services where available and clinically appropriate.
Phone: 1300 003 707
Website: msiaustralia.org.au
1800RESPECT (National)
Free, confidential counselling and support for people experiencing domestic, family or sexual violence, including reproductive coercion.
Phone: 1800 737 732, available 24 hours a day.
Website: 1800respect.org.au
Progressive Therapeutic Counselling
Offers abortion-affirming counselling for people exploring reproductive decisions, processing abortion experiences or navigating reproductive coercion. Confidential online counselling is available across Australia.
Website: progressivetherapeutic.com.au
Sources and further reading
1. Original peer-reviewed research (7 October 2026)
Edvardsson K, Schummers L, Moulton JE, et al. Regulatory Policy Changes and Mifepristone Access Through Pharmacies in Australia.
JAMA Network Open. 2026;9(10).
2. Therapeutic Goods Administration (11 July 2023)
Amendments to Restrictions for Prescribing of MS-2 Step (Mifepristone and Misoprostol).
Read the original regulatory announcement
3. Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (7 October 2026)
Removing Restrictions Increased Medication Abortion Access in Australia.
4. Therapeutic Goods Administration (2026)
Arzestra (Anthia Life Sciences): Australian Regulatory Approval.
Read the TGA product information
5. Therapeutic Goods Administration (21 October 2026)
MS-2 Step: Extension of Approved Indications.
Read the October 2026 approval
Research disclosure
The study's published conflict-of-interest statement identifies one author, Dr Philip Goldstone, as medical director of MSI Australia and MS Health Pty Ltd, the Australian sponsor of MS-2 Step. Other author disclosures and details of research funding are available in the original publication.
This article provides general information about reproductive healthcare and published research. It is not a substitute for individual medical advice. Service availability, medication approvals and subsidy arrangements may change.