Wollongong's Greens councillors have welcomed news that their party’s abortion access bill passed NSW Parliament with strong multi-partisan support in both houses last Wednesday.
The Abortion Law Reform Amendment (Health Care Access) Bill 2025, introduced by Greens Upper House MP and Health spokesperson Dr Amanda Cohn, allows nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives to prescribe abortion medication, as well as requiring additional public reporting of information about abortion access.
"I'm really proud of our NSW Greens colleagues for successfully putting the Abortion Access Bill forward, which will see improved access to healthcare services for women across NSW," said Ward 1 Greens councillor Jess Whittaker.
"Dr Amanda Cohn MLC has done a fantastic job in navigating the Bill through parliament, against a toxic Trumpian-style campaign attempting to derail it. This win demonstrates how Greens work collaboratively across all parties to get positive legislative outcomes for the community.
"Within hours of the bill passing, you could see the Illawarra Women’s Health Centre announcing their intentions to expand the health care they provide.
"This is a major boost to abortion access in the Illawarra and I hope this is replicated in other regional and rural areas where access to this health care is even more limited.”
The Bill was passed 25 to 15 in the Legislative Council before passing 65 to 20 in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, May 14, with the Premier, Opposition Leader, Health Minister and Shadow Health Minister all supporting it.
Last week NSW Greens spokesperson for Women Jenny Leong said the bill continued a long Greens’ tradition of being "unapologetically pro-choice".
“In 2019, the Greens co-sponsored the Abortion Law Reform Act that saw abortion finally removed from the Crimes Act. Even then we knew that the decriminalisation of abortion in the state, while a watershed moment, was the first step of many."
Ms Leong said the abortion access bill addressed inequity and was a "very important" next step.
