Gina Rushton


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COVID-19 coverage

Harper's Bazaar Arabia •

When Is The Right Time To Freeze Your Eggs?

A woman sent an innocuous tweet from the frustration and isolation of the pandemic lockdown. “As a 35-year-old single woman who would like to have a family one day, these months dictate whether or not that can happen for me,” the July 2021 post lamented to the online world. The fury came fast. People accused her of wasting 34 years before the pandemic. They told her to “stop whining” and freeze her eggs.
The Monthly •

Lockdown loaves and hampers

Rosanna Barbero passes a woman weighing raisins, then skirts around a pallet of Vegemite jars to enter a cavernous hall where a chain of volunteers is pushing hampers along tables – adding flour, vegetables and sanitiser wipes. The head of Addison Road Community Organisation, in Marrickville in Sydney’s inner-west, sits down, perhaps for the first time that day. “We are going to have a huge party when we close all of this down, because we will have humane policies in place and people won’t nee
The Guardian •

Women who require late-term abortions are being demonised in Australia – again | Gina Rushton

It wouldn’t be a debate about abortion without a flagrant misinformation campaign about terminations after the first trimester. A bill to decriminalise abortion was this month introduced in South Australia, the last jurisdiction to do so, and opponents of the legislation have already set about claiming if passed it would legalise and in fact encourage “abortion up to birth”, an offensive but ultimately meaningless phrase.
Buzzfeed •

The Coronavirus Has Pushed Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings Online, And Regulars Are Worried About Newcomers

"I would not want to be in early recovery right now," Matthew told BuzzFeed News. The three Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings he chairs each week in Sydney's inner west have all moved online as Australians stop social gatherings to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. "When people are in early recovery the only thing they can do when they get home is to go straight to a meeting. I was pretty much at a meeting every day for the first few months," Matthew — a pseudonym to protect his privacy
The Guardian •

Abortion drugs remain inaccessible, unsafe and unaffordable for many Australian women | Gina Rushton

It has been 24 years since the federal government chose the partial privatisation of Telstra over the rights of Australian women to safely terminate a pregnancy with abortion drugs. In 1996, anti-abortion independent Brian Harradine, who held the balance of power in the Senate, agreed to support John Howard’s one-third float of the telecommunications company if the government amended legislation to give the health minister veto to prohibit the import, manufacture or use of abortion drug RU486.
Crikey •

Lockdown pregnancies creating a 'shadow pandemic' of complications

Reproductive health and abortion providers say they are preparing for a 'shadow pandemic' following a wave of unintended pregnancies during the world's lockdowns. A heavily pregnant 19-year-old with high blood pressure lost her baby and went partially blind after she was turned away from a Port Moresby hospital in April, as the hospital had no temperature-testing facilities to confirm she was not carrying COVID-19.
The Saturday Paper •

Victoria’s spike in Covid-19 cases

A cluster at a Brimbank meatworks, a teacher at an Albanvale primary school, outbreaks at two Melbourne hotels where travellers were quarantined, a Coburg family, staff at a McDonald’s and an H&M, a toddler at a Prahran childcare centre, a Coles worker at a Laverton distribution centre, an Essendon AFL player who returned a positive and then a negative test. Then, on Wednesday, the first death from coronavirus in Australia in a month.
The Saturday Paper •

Temporary visa holders at risk

“I think of it as a Choose Your Own Adventure book where every door is locked,” says Diana Sayed, chief executive of the Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights. She describes the path offered to women in Australia on temporary visas who are seeking to leave a violent relationship. It’s a stark reality that was brought into focus last week when Kamaljeet Sidhu, a 27-year-old international student living in Sydney’s north-west, was fatally stabbed in her home. Her husband, Baltej Lai
Buzzfeed •

The Coronavirus Is Showing Up Gaps In Australia’s Abortion Access

Fiona had just survived a brutal bushfire season and moved into a small tin shed with her two toddlers and partner while they built their family home when the coronavirus outbreak hit. “Then I found out I was pregnant,” Fiona — a pseudonym to protect her privacy — told BuzzFeed News. “That was a surprise.” The last thing the 26-year-old Adelaide Hills mother needed was an unplanned pregnancy in the only Australian state where you can’t legally access medical abortion drugs over the phone. T
Buzzfeed •

Australia And New Zealand Are Talking About Creating A Travel Bubble

Australia and New Zealand are considering creating a travel bubble by opening up borders just to each other before allowing broader international travel, as COVID-19 case numbers in the two countries continue to plateau. Australian prime minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday afternoon that he "swapped notes" with New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern when she dialled in via video link to a meeting of Australia's national cabinet — comprised of the prime minister and state and territory le
Buzzfeed •

South Australia Is Waiting On One Man To Decide If Women Have To Travel For Medical Abortions In A Pandemic

In every Australian jurisdiction bar one, women can access medical abortions over telehealth. In South Australia, the law dictates a woman must physically see two different doctors at an approved hospital to get medical abortion pills. Only a handful of hospitals in the state provide the pills, meaning the vast majority of rural and regional women have to travel to the capital Adelaide.
Buzzfeed •

Victims Of Violence Will Now Have To Gather Evidence Themselves To Get Compensation In NSW

Victims of crime in the Australian state of New South Wales will have to gather their own evidence to support claims of violence under a controversial change that has taken community services by surprise in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. If you have been the victim of a crime and are seeking counselling or compensation in New South Wales, the long-standing process has been that you submit a form outlining when you think the crime occurred and what the injury was, whether that is physical
Buzzfeed •

These Women Are The Faces Of Australia’s Essential Workforce

Jocelyn Hoffman has stopped seeing her loved ones and spends her time reassuring patient’s families that their loved ones are okay. Hoffman is a registered nurse working at a NSW aged care facility, where she says patients are anxious about contracting COVID-19 and staff are anxious about infecting them. “After work we have to make sure we don’t compromise the health of our families by taking it home and at work we have to make sure we don’t compromise the health of our patients,” she said.
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