BATHURST MP Paul Toole has labelled the state's abortion laws "outdated" but has stopped short of saying he will vote in favour of decriminalising pregnancy terminations.
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Currently abortions in NSW are dealt with under the Crimes Act 1900, but the introduction this week of a private member's bill by Sydney independent MP Alex Greenwich may change everything.
Mr Greenwich's bill would allow for terminations up to 22 weeks and later if two doctors "consider that, in all the circumstances, the termination should be performed".
Mr Toole acknowledged it was an important issue.
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"It's important that we are protecting those who are making a difficult decision," he said of women who seek a pregnancy termination.
"It's very difficult to put yourself into their place when I'm sure that there are many different reasons that they have to grapple with when they come to decisions like this."
Mr Toole said there were "certainly some changes that need to be addressed" with the state's current abortion legislation.
"There's no doubt that the bill indicates that some of the laws in NSW are actually outdated, they're not in line with some of the laws in both Victoria and Queensland," he said.
There's no doubt that the bill indicates that some of the laws in NSW are actually outdated, they're not in line with some of the laws in both Victoria and Queensland.
- Bathurst MP Paul Toole
NSW MPs will soon be asked to make a conscience vote on the issue and until then Mr Toole said he will be considering information in the bill as well as conducting his own research into the issue.
"I'm keen to get all the information that's being provided, the bill was only introduced [on Tuesday] afternoon," he said.
"It's quite lengthy so I'm still going through the detail and actually interpreting what it all means and talking to different people."
Of particular concern to Mr Toole is that medical staff are well supported so they are "not put in an invidious position into the future".
Orange MP Phil Donato said while he was not pro-abortion, he respected the "rights of a woman to be able to make a decision on that [abortion] without committing a criminal offence".
"They should have that option over their body," he said.
And earlier this week, Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders said this bill was not about encouraging abortion, rather it was "supporting women who, for any one of a number of reasons, may choose to make that decision".
Meanwhile, Catholic Diocese of Bathurst Bishop Michael McKenna said the bill was being pushed through without adequate consideration of the consequences.
"As so often in this debate, someone is forgotten. That is the human being: unborn, but human, who has no rights when her or his life or death is being decided," he said.
"Also forgotten are those medical professionals who would conscientiously oppose such procedures, from whom the law could withdraw protection.
"And thoroughly forgotten are the mothers faced with difficult circumstances in their pregnancies, for whom, instead of genuine care, only the bleak option of a termination is offered."