23 May 2016 - Canberra women are travelling to Queanbeyan to access medical abortion drugs through the mail, a telephone provider of the drugs says.

Founded last year, the Tabbot Foundation provides medical abortions to women across Australia through a telephone consultation service. After years of controversy, abortion drugs mifepristone (RU486) and misoprostol became available legally in Australia in 2006.

It was that year, after health minister Tony Abbott had refused to lift a ban over RU486, when MPs voted to strip him of his power over the pill.

Tanya Plibersek put RU486 on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme in 2013, though controversy around its safety has not entirely disappeared.

And although abortion is not a crime in the ACT, laws penalise people who carry out an abortion unless in a government-approved clinic.

To avoid breaking ACT law, the foundation sends the abortion drugs to Queanbeyan, NSW, for women to pick-up and take before returning home.

For more details, go to: http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/canberra-women-travelling-to-queanbeyan-to-access-medical-abortion-drugs-through-mail-20160511-gosf5q.html