Prior to 2017, a surgical abortion was the only option, and in Katherine - a remote town which struggles to maintain a workforce - women would often have to travel 300 km to Darwin.

Access to the abortion drug Mifepristone, better known as RU486 has drastically reduced the need for women in Katherine to travel long distances.

But GP's still have to undergo specific training to prescribe the drug, and earlier this year, the Katherine Hospital was, for a spell, without a qualified clinician able to prescribe the drug or perform a surgical termination.

NT Minister for Health Natasha Fyles played a key role in bringing about the legislation change in 2017, lifting the Territory to the same level as the rest of Australia.

Two years on and she remains an avid supporter of the change.

"When legislation was first introduced in the Territory surgical abortion was the only option but we have seen advancements in clinical care that have allowed non-surgical.

"So what we did was change the legislation to allow health clinicians to decide with their patient, with the woman, what the best care is for them.

She said there has been a significant drop in women accessing a surgical termination and opting instead for a less invasive method.

"We have seen a significant uptake in early medical termination of pregnancy, which territory women didn't have access to before.

"What we have seen with legislative changes we made in 2017 was the numbers shift from being surgical to medical terminations.

"Clearly there was a lack in our legislation because women were having to undergo a surgical procedure when it could have been a medical intervention."

The restrictive legislation prior to the introduction of the medical drug would see thousands of Territory women living remotely having to travel hundreds of kilometres to the nearest centre - Darwin or Alice Springs.

Despite the reforms, women in Katherine do not always have the options due to staffing issues.

But Ms Fyles said the government is working on it.

"These changes we made allowed people, in Katherine for example, access to early medical terminations at Katherine Hospital and some of the Aboriginal communities in the region are able to provide that.

"It is important that every Territorian can access health services as close to home as possible.

"I am proud of the work we have undertaken. We will always look towards legislative change, but I think we have a modern piece of legislation that helps Territorians, particularly Territory women.

"The ability for Katherine Hospital to offer, when clinically appropriate, those early medical terminations is important because for women to access their health care within their home communities is important so they don't have to travel to Darwin.

"That can add more trauma to what can already be a very intense period for them."

She said safety will always come first, and while there are at times staffing issues, Top End Health is always looking to bolster the workforce.

"We want people to get health care at home, but it comes from that clinical safety perspective. We deliver [abortions] where it is safest for them to get it," Ms Fyles said.

"We want to provide a service as close to home as possible but we do need to make sure it is delivered in a clinical capacity, so I do feel for people who still have to travel to receive those services and we always strive to have staffing to cover that, but that's a big job."

She said staying on top of staffing is a priority for the government.

Australians elsewhere had access to medical terminations about a decade before Territory women.

The gap served as a contentious issue for advocates in the community, who felt the NT was lagging, failing to change with the times.

Moving forward, Ms Fyles said the NT's legislation on reproductive rights need to continue to match contemporary medical practice and delivery of services.

"I think we need to make sure that we don't have such a significant gap in the changes, which we saw before.

"The figures show around 80 per cent of terminations in the Territory last year were early medical terminations, up 73 per cent from the year before.

"So previously those women were having to have a surgical intervention when a medical intervention is a lot more comfortable for them."

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