A Tabbot Foundation spokesman said tele-health, or treatments using phones and computers, was increasingly common in Australia. A new service offering easy-access medical abortions has been overwhelmed by callers. "Medical pregnancy termination through teleconference is one of the most appropriate medical conditions you can use this for because you don't have to examine the patient," he said. "It will also mean women who might have felt intimidated going into an abortion clinic don't have to." Instead, the woman would call the service's toll-free number –1800 180 880 – and would be referred to local, preferably bulk-billing, providers to test her blood and give her an ultrasound to ensure the pregnancy was suitable. The doctor would get the results to use in a phone consultation. In states such as NSW where a psychological assessment is required, this would also be done over the phone. If the treatment is approved, the women is posted a package including the medications mifepristone and misoprostol (commonly known as RU486), prophylactic antibiotics, painkillers and anti-nausea drugs, all at a cost of $250.

A nurse would phone to check on her one day later, and she could also call a 24-hour help line run by the Tabbot Foundation. The foundation is named after Tony Abbott, who was health minister when RU486 was approved after he was controversially stripped of his right to veto it, and Tanya Plibersek, who publicly funded the drugs in 2013. The medications have been safely used by millions of women globally, although in 2010 an Australian woman died after taking RU486 and developing an infection. The spokesman said this remained a risk if the body did not fully expel the embryo and other pregnancy tissue, and she did not receive ongoing medical care such as the follow-up blood tests Tabbott would provide. "We won't discharge the patient until we are happy with the end result," he said. Reproductive Choice Australia co-president Jenny Ejlak said that despite mifepristone and misoprostol being publicly subsidised, GPs had been reluctant to prescribe them, leaving it to established surgical abortion clinics that were few and far between and had higher costs.

"It's a little bit of a postcode lottery for women," she said. "I think this will make a really big difference. "It will provide access to medical termination in a lot of parts of the country where it's not available at all, but it will also provide an option for women that is probably going to be a lot cheaper than the other clinics." But she said it was unfortunate that women still had to pay high fees for medical termination, when the medications themselves cost very little. "For a lot of women, students, people living on unemployment benefits or the disability pension, $250 is a significant amount of money," she said. The service will only be offered for pregnancies of fewer than 63 days, and generally only for women who do not experience severe periods, as the drug often causes more heavy or painful bleeding.

A study of more than 13,000 other women who were given the medications by Australian provider Marie Stopes found they were effective in 96.5 per cent of cases. Serious bleeding occurred in 0.1 per cent of cases and suspected infection in 0.2 per cent.