Restrictions on GPs prescribing mifepristone are pointless, undermine women’s reproductive rights and should be ditched, a leading obstetrician warns.

More than a decade ago, the Howard Government brought in laws to restrict the drug’s importation and use, and the fallout is still being felt, says Professor Caroline de Costa, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at James Cook University in Queensland.

Prescribers have to undergo 2-3 hours of online training and register with the company sponsoring mifepristone, which is also required to provide a 24-hour telephone after-care service.

“There is no good reason why mifepristone … needs to remain indefinitely as a special drug — a status that contributes to stigmatisation of abortion itself and of the many women who make the decision to terminate a pregnancy,” Professor de Costa and her colleagues write in the Medical Journal of Australia this week.