Abortion bill passes lower house 59-31 after MPs’ bitter battle
NSW is a step closer to decriminalising abortion with major legislation passing the lower house tonight after hours of fiery debate. The legislation passed 59 votes for to 31 against.
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The legislation to decriminalise abortion in NSW has passed the lower house 59-31, but not without significant changes that have pitted senior ministers against each other and embarrassed Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
A raft of amendments — including a motion that would require “termination not to be used for gender selection” — were moved on Thursday as MPs thrashed out the bill in the lower house.
Ms Berejiklian opposed a contentious amendment moved by Attorney-General Mark Speakman requiring terminations be performed only if the woman has given “informed consent”, which ended up passing 49 votes to 41.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard, one of 15 MPs co-sponsoring the bill, also opposed the change, saying: “No doctor would undertake any procedure without informed consent.”
The Australian Medical Association NSW previously slammed the amendment as “unnecessary” and “insulting”.
But Ms Berejiklian and Mr Hazzard were in the minority of Liberals who voted against it, with more than two-thirds of party members supporting the motion.
Independent MP Dr Joe McGirr failed to move a major amendment to remove the obligation for doctors to refer patients on to another medical practitioner if they objected to an abortion.
It was backed by Treasurer Dominic Perrottet, who said freedom of conscience and religion “are among the most important freedoms that any of us enjoy”.
But Transport Minister Andrew Constance and Better Regulation Minister Kevin Anderson stood firmly against it, claiming it could compromise the care of women in regional areas where there are shortages of doctors.
“What’s the difference between a small town without a doctor and a major metropolitan city like Sydney … it could be life or death,” Mr Anderson said.
Liberal MP Tanya Davies pushed a motion to move restrictions on late-term abortion from the proposed 22 weeks to 20 but it was defeated.
Police Minister David Elliott, who is opposed to the bill, said he was disappointed but “heartened by the fact nearly two-thirds of Liberal MPs” supported the amendment.
Nationals MP Leslie Williams, another co-sponsor, successfully moved an amendment to require abortions beyond 22-weeks to be performed at “approved public health facilities”.
Mr Speakman and Planning Minister Rob Stokes dropped a controversial amendment that would require a hospital advisory committee to approve all terminations after 22 weeks.
Ms Davies, who is the former minister for women, last night flagged she would move an amendment to prevent women from having sex-selective terminations.
It comes amid concerns from several MPs, including Dr McGirr, that the proposed legislation does nothing to prevent women from having terminations based on gender.
Mr Speakman yesterday told Sky News if the Bill was carried in its current state “then basically a woman will be able to obtain an abortion below 22-weeks for any reason”.
Beyond that time, he said they would have to go through an ethics committee who could approve a gender-based abortion.
This is at odds with Mr Hazzard’s statement in the lower house last week.
Quoting the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Mr Hazzard said late-term abortions were “only ever performed when there is a compelling clinical need”.
MPs will vote on the Bill after debate on the 19 amendments concludes.
If it passes it will go to the upper house in two weeks.
Originally published as Abortion bill passes lower house 59-31 after MPs’ bitter battle
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