The Legislative Council spent the whole of last week considering amendments to the Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill 2019 – a bill that would decriminalise abortion in New South Wales and instead regulate it as a health matter.
In total the House considered 16 sets of amendments, with six of those sets of amendments being agreed to regarding:
- the title of the legislation
- informed consent
- care of a person born alive after termination
- counselling
- conscientious objection by health practitioners
- sex selection.
There are still many more amendments to consider and it is likely that when the House sits on Tuesday 24 September, it will continue its consideration of amendments.
The following tables provide a brief snapshot of the views of members on the amendments voted on last week. Debate on many of these amendments was very lengthy, with many nuanced arguments from those who supported or opposed the amendments. For the full picture read the Hansard.
Tuesday 17 September 2019
Wednesday 18 September 2019
Thursday 19 September 2019
