Abortion was Just Decriminalised in NSW

Abortion has officially been decriminalised in New South Wales.

The controversial bill passed the Upper House last night with 26 votes to 14, and received the final tick of approval after it was reintroduced to the Lower House this morning, the ABC reports. Abortion has now been removed from the state's Crimes Act, overturning a law that has stood for more than a century.

“With the passage of this bill abortion will be decriminalised in NSW—I am sorry that has taken us so long,” said NSW independent MP Alex Greenwich, who presented the bill to Parliament in August, in a statement last night.

The bill has been the subject of fierce public and political debate over the past eight weeks, with conservative figures condemning it on moral grounds, and far-right and religious groups accusing the Government of trying to "rush" the bill through without sufficient public consultation.

Of major concern among some MPs was the possibility of late-term and sex-selective abortions. Recent amendments to the bill included a ban on the former and stricter regulation of the latter. The bill now allows terminations up to 22 weeks as well as later abortions if two doctors agree.

The decision is being celebrated across several levels of government as an important step forward for the state.

"It's been a very long journey but it's also been a very important journey for a very important issue that people across NSW care about deeply," said Labor MP Penny Sharpe, who cosponsored the bill. "This is a massive step forward for women in NSW, it's long overdue and I just want to thank everyone who has been involved in getting us here."

Other voices are predictably less enthused—with Anthony Fisher, the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, describing the historic occasion as a "dark day" for NSW.

"The new abortion law is a defeat for humanity," he said. "[It] may be the worst law passed in NSW in modern times, because it represents such a dramatic abdication of responsibility to protect the most vulnerable members of our community."

Despite the doomful rhetoric coming out of some corners of the conservative camp, however, NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro said he was proud to be part of a Government that had decriminalised abortion.

"What we've achieved last night is historic for the state,” he said. “Decriminalising abortion, taking it out of criminal act and putting it in the health act where it should be, and not treating women like criminals.”

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