NSW has voted to decriminalise abortion. It’s been 119 years in the making and required the 3rd longest debate in history in the NSW upper house, but on Wednesday night the contested Abortion Law Reform bill was passed 26 votes to 14.
It returned to the Legislative Assembly on Thursday morning for the final hurdle and was passed without division just after 10am. This historic reform is the result of decades of activism and advocacy. Alex Greenwich, the Independent MP who introduced the original bill in July, said all MPs “can feel proud that part of our legacy will be decriminalising abortion in NSW”.
It has not been easy. Multiple protests and rallies have been held in Sydney by pro-choice and anti-abortion activists over the past month alone.
The Deputy Opposition Leader of the Legislative Council, Penny Sharpe, noted on Wednesday evening that this process has involved 102 amendments, 26 divisions, 5 sitting days, 30 hours 24 mins in committee and more than 10 hours of debate.
To say the bill has been highly contentious is an understatement.
Three conservative Liberal MPs threatened to move to the crossbench over the conscience vote supported by the Premier Gladys Berejiklian and even briefly attempted to topple her leadership over the matter.
The former Minister for Women, Tanya Davies, has been one of the most vocal opponents of the bill and one of the MPs who threatened to abandon the government if “sensible amendments” were not made. On Wednesday evening it was reported that Davies was satisfied with an “agreement” that had been reached over the issue of late-term abortions.
The bill passed 59 to 31, with 19 Liberal MPs voting against it in the lower house.
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