FEDERAL Health Minister Tanya Plibersek says government subsidies for the controversial abortion drug RU486 won't lead to more terminations if it's added to the pharmaceutical benefits scheme.

In what Ms Plibersek described as an important first step, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee on Friday recommended Mifepristone (RU486) and another drug taken in conjunction, Misoprostol, be covered by the scheme.

In coming weeks the government will review factors such as cost and supply of the drugs that aid the medical termination of pregnancies up to 49 days. A final decision is due before the election.

"It's not my intention that this become a political football," Ms Plibersek told reporters in Sydney.

If approved, the two drugs would likely cost $5.90 each for concessional patients and $36.10 each for general patients, saving women hundreds of dollars.

Overseas studies showed their increased availability did not lead to an increase in terminations, despite the lower cost and relative ease of use compared to surgical interventions, Ms Plibersek said.

Both drugs have been on the World Health Organisation list of essential medicines for years and used by tens of million of women around the globe.

"Deciding to terminate a pregnancy is usually an extraordinarily difficult decision for a woman to make," the minister said.

"I think the notion that people will become more frivolous because of the introduction or availability of such drugs is just not borne out."

The Australian Greens called on Ms Plibersek to list the drugs as soon as possible, arguing that if Labor lost to the coalition in September a Tony Abbott-led government could restrict access.

But Mr Abbott said he would accept the advice of health experts on drugs such as RU486 if he was elected prime minister, after having blocked access to the abortion pill when he was health minister in the former Howard coalition government.

"When I was in government, we invariably accepted the advice of our technical advisers," he told reporters in Adelaide.

"This is now before them and that would certainly be the way I would operate."

However, Ms Plibersek said there were legitimate questions to be asked about Mr Abbott's position.

"I guess it is possible that he's made a complete 180 degree turnaround on this issue," she said.

"People would question whether once he's made one complete 180 degree turnaround, whether he'll do another 180 degrees and end up back where he started."

The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) is against listing RU486 for ethical and health reasons, saying it would be wrong for "this just to be waved through".

"Women facing unsupported pregnancies should be offered real support - not a chemical which is harmful to both them and their unborn child," ACL spokesperson Wendy Francis said.

Another Christian group FamilyVoice Australia said RU486 would lead to other serious issues.

"The availability of a cheap abortion drug would encourage boyfriends, husbands and parents of pregnant women to coerce those women to abort," the group's research officer Ros Phillips said.

"Serious depression and suicide attempts are far more common in such women."