Greens call for improved access to abortion as NSW Parliament votes to uphold abortion rights
NSW Parliament: Current rights to legal abortion will remain intact in NSW, following a conscience vote on a bill that sought to re-criminalise abortion in the state under the guise of restricting sex-selective abortions.
The bill was defeated in the upper house, 21 to 16.
Health spokesperson for the Greens NSW Dr Amanda Cohn said: “Today the NSW Parliament reaffirmed that abortion is legal health care, in the face of an organised campaign to erode our hard-fought rights for reproductive choice.”
“This bill was never about protecting girls – it was a thinly veiled attempt to incrementally re-criminalise abortion and make it harder to access,” Dr Cohn said.
“The real impact of the bill would have been to create so much uncertainty and fear around severe criminal penalties that many health professionals would stop providing abortions.”
“This is part of an organised campaign that seeks to end safe abortion care, a goal that has been articulated clearly publicly by supporters of the bill,” Dr Cohn said.
The NSW debate coincides with recent abortion debates in South Australia and Queensland. In June, a bill to restrict late-term abortions was voted down in South Australia Parliament, 35 votes to 9. The same month, a disallowance motion to restrict access to medical abortion tablets was voted down in Queensland Parliament, 85 votes to 2.
“The best way to safeguard access to abortion from further attempts to restrict it is to embed abortion care within the public health system. Many people are shocked to learn that abortion is not reliably available at most public hospitals in NSW, where since decriminalisation in 2019, service provision has been largely left to non-government providers.”
The NSW Greens will continue to push the NSW Government to improve access to abortion care by increasing the number of public hospitals that provide services, and supporting GPs to provide early abortion care in their practices.
Media Contact: Kate Dorrell [email protected]
Dr Amanda Cohn was a regional GP and abortion care provider before being elected to NSW Parliament. Dr Cohn is available for comment. We can also supply an image.