Bendigo's abortion clinic has been effectively shut for more than a year because doctors are refusing to offer terminations.

Women in the state's north-west have been denied local access to publicly funded abortions since the only clinician willing to perform the procedure quit Bendigo Health's Choices clinic early last year. The hospital has tried to recruit a new obstetrician or gynaecologist, but each doctor has turned down the role because they are ''conscientious objectors''.

Bendigo Health Hospital. Credit:Nicole Emanuel

Women can access counselling and information at the clinic but are being forced to travel to the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne for abortions.

A pro-life group protests outside the Choices clinic every Friday, and concerned health professionals say the pressure is discouraging doctors from accepting the position at the hospital.

Marilyn Beaumont, chairperson of the Australian Women's Health Network, called on Bendigo Health management to show leadership. ''There is a community group that is aligned with Right To Life that exercises a great deal of influence on the health service but that should not stop the proper leadership for the provision of the full range of sexual reproductive services … in that area,'' Ms Beaumont said.

She said under Victorian law, doctors are entitled to decline to provide abortion services under conscientious objection provisions, as long as they refer the woman to a provider who will carry out the termination.

In a statement, Bendigo Health's executive director of surgical services, Peter Faulkner, said: ''We are actively pursuing the reinstatement of the procedural element of the service and remain optimistic that we will have the service fully operational in the near future.''