The New South Wales health minister, Brad Hazzard, has urged his colleagues to “right a wrong” by supporting an historic bill to decriminalise abortion in the state.
Debate on the bill began in the state parliament on Tuesday amid growing pushback from conservative MPs, the Catholic church, and anti-abortion activists who have sought to derail the latest attempt to make NSW the last state to decriminalise abortions.
In the lead up to Tuesday’s debate and possible vote, supporters including the 15 co-sponsors of the bill have urged MPs to be on the right side of history, and Hazzard, a key backer of the bill, pressed that theme in his speech to the parliament.
“Today, we the people’s representatives here in the NSW parliament have the opportunity to right a wrong enacted into law 119 years ago,” he said.
“A law that no one has had the courage since to change. A law that put women’s reproductive rights into the criminal code. A law which was enacted when this place had legislators that were all men.”
Based on laws passed in Queensland last year, the Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill would remove abortion from the criminal code and allow for pregnancy terminations up to 22 weeks. After 22 weeks, abortions could still be provided if two doctors “consider that, in all the circumstances, the termination should be performed”.
Debate on the bill could go well into Tuesday night, with opponents expected to table a number of amendments aimed at placing further restrictions on late-term abortions.
Hazzard on Tuesday urged colleagues to support the bill, saying further restrictions were not necessary.
“Over the past 20 years or so all states and territories across Australia have moved to reform laws on abortion, but not in NSW. Not until now,” Hazzard said.
“In all jurisdictions other than NSW there is [a] statutory recognition that the termination of a pregnancy is a lawful medical procedure. While there is some variation in the criteria applied and the nature and timing of oversight, the starting point in all jurisdictions is to recognise abortion is legal.”
While NSW is the last state to decriminalise abortion, other states still maintain elements of it in its criminal code. In South Australia, abortion is legal up to 28 weeks, but only if two doctors agree that a woman’s physical or mental health is endangered by pregnancy, or for serious foetal abnormality. Unlawful abortion remains a crime.
“I strongly believe women in NSW are entitled to the same legal provisions that exist across Australia when it comes to having terminations dealt with as a medical and health care practice rather than through a criminal lens,” Hazzard said.
Since the bill was introduced into the state’s parliament by the independent MP for Sydney Alex Greenwich last year MPs have been bombarded by both pro-choice and anti-abortion groups.
The NSW Pro-Choice Alliance wrote to all MPs urging them to be on the “right side of history” by supporting the bill to end “archaic, cruel and degrading” laws, and there have been daily protests outside the parliament.
Dozens of anti-abortion activists holding up signs reading “women deserve better than abortion”, “abortion is murder” and “choose life”, were sandwiched between hundreds of supporters of the bill.
Labor’s families spokeswoman Penny Sharpe was among the MPs who addressed the large pro-choice crowd, who held up signs stating “mind your own uterus” and “trust women”.
“Women in NSW are not criminals for making decisions about their own bodies,” Sharpe said while thanking those who’ve shared stories about abortions, including via the #arrestus online campaign.
Sydney’s Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher and Anglican Archbishop Glenn Davis wrote an open letter on Monday declaring NSW was “on the edge of a precipice”.
“[The bill] not only allows for abortion up until 22 weeks for any reason … it also allows for abortion for any reason even up until birth provided that two doctors agree,” they wrote.
In contrast, Uniting Church moderator the Rev Simon Hansford on the weekend backed Greenwich’s abortion bill.
“When abortion is practised indiscriminately it damages respect for human life,” he wrote in an open letter to parliamentarians.
“However, we live in a broken world, where people face difficult decisions. Respect for the sacredness of life means advocating for the needs of women as well as every unborn child.”
