Access to medical abortion will be made free in a cost-of-living election pitch by a re-elected state government.
With Victorians headed to polls in November, Labor has unveiled its latest pledge aimed at eliminating out-of-pocket costs for abortions.
The policy is slated to cost taxpayers $30 million over four years.
“Only Labor will protect a woman’s right to choose," Health Minister Ingrid Stitt said.
“Abortion care is health care and Labor will make it free.”
The move comes as Labor continues to trail the coalition in the polls, with its primary vote remaining steady at 25 per cent, according to the latest Resolve Political Monitor, conducted in October and published by Nine newspapers.
Primary support for the coalition pushed up one point to 28 per cent and One Nation was steady at 23 per cent, with the Greens on 15 per cent and independents on nine per cent.
Under Labor's proposal, participating private providers will be paid to deliver medical and surgical abortion care when gestation is under 16 weeks.
The government says the plan will save women more than $1000, with no GP or specialist consultation fees and no medication costs at participating providers.
Eligibility of the Victorian Patient Travel Assistance Scheme is also set to be expanded to cover care delivered by rural generalists who specialise in anaesthesia and obstetrics.
Labor will also regulate care across the state and extend the window for medical abortion to 10 weeks gestation.
Safer Care Victoria will lead a clinical review into extending access to abortion up to 12 weeks gestation, within the World Health Organisation’s guidance.
The pledge follows a suite of cost-of-living measures from a government seeking a historic fourth term, including the rollout of 10 walk-in dental clinics offering free services.
It comes as the race to November’s election heats up, with fewer than 50 days until polling day.
Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson in September vowed that laws providing legal access to terminations at any stage of pregnancy would not be changed by a coalition government.
“Abortion law will not change under a Liberal and Nationals government. Full stop,” she told The Sunday Age.
"Anyone that claims otherwise is simply wrong."
