Tuesday saw the Council continue its consideration of amendments to the Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill 2019 – a bill that would decriminalise abortion in NSW and instead regulate it as a health matter.
Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill 2019
In case you missed it: Check out our blog posts about the passage of the bill during August and consideration of amendments last week.
Proceedings on Tuesday
Following formalities, the House resolved straight into committee of the whole to further consider amendments. These are available on our website. This was the fourth day that the Council considered amendments to the bill.
The House considered eight sets of amendments, of which two were successful. These amendments related to the collection of data and the coercion of persons to have, or not have an abortion.
There are still more amendments to consider and the House will be debating these on Wednesday.
The following table provides a brief snapshot of the views of members on the amendments voted on. Debate on many of these amendments was lengthy, with many nuanced arguments from those who supported or opposed the amendments. For the full picture read the Hansard transcript.
* These numbers refer to the amendment sheets on the bill’s webpage.
Adjournment debate
The following members spoke to the adjournment debate:
- Mr Amato — Religious Freedom
- Ms Moriarty — Rookwood Cemetery Open Day
- Mr Shoebridge — Child Sexual Abuse
- Mr Blair — Department Liaison Officers
- Ms Sharpe — Blacktown Youth Services Association
- Mr Banasiak — Old-Growth Forests