The Australian Capital Territory will soon provide free abortion services up to 16 weeks gestation.
From early next year, all citizens will be able to get free medical and surgical abortion operations, including those who do not have a Medicare card.
The plan to eradicate out-of-pocket charges means that individuals will feel “empowered to choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy without being coerced by financial difficulties,” according to Yvette Berry, the Minister of Women.
The program intends to expand access to safe, accessible abortion care and will cost $4.6 million over the next four years.
The practice was decriminalised inside the area in 2006.
The judgement followed the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, which had been in place since the 50-year-old legislation recognised abortion as a constitutional right.
Women have a constitutional right to abortion in their first trimester, according to the landmark lawsuit, which was brought in 1973.
Abortion would no longer be protected at the federal level after the court’s decision to overturn Roe V Wade on June 24.
Advocates clamoured for access to legal and humane abortion care as the verdict sent shock waves around the globe.