Legislation to broaden abortion services in NSW has passed the state parliament by 65 votes to 20.
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The legislation allows nurses and midwives to prescribe abortion pills for medical terminations.
Currently, only medical practitioners could prescribe treatment for medical abortion in NSW.
The legislation passed after Labor and Coalition MPs were allowed a conscience vote on May 14.
An amendment proposed by Wagga Wagga independent Dr Joe McGirr for nurses and midwives to require further training to prescribe a medical abortion did not pass.
The bill, introduced by Greens MP Amanda Cohn, a former medical abortion provider, was initially much broader in scope.
Dr Cohn told ACM, publisher of this masthead, that although abortion was decriminalised in NSW in 2019, it was still not widely accessible.
"People are still travelling hundreds of kilometres or forking out hundreds or thousands of dollars to access the private system," she said.
The initial bill would have legally required doctors with moral objections to abortion to refer a patient to another practitioner.
It also stipulated that abortion be provided within a "reasonable distance" of people's homes, regardless of where they lived.
That was all scrapped after failing to pass the upper house.
The bill, in its stripped-back form, allows nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives to prescribe the abortion pill MS-2 Step to women up to nine weeks in their pregnancy.
Carla Mascarenhas
Carla Mascarenhas is a journalist with Explore Travel and The Senior. She specialises in deep issues affecting Gen X and beyond, and the latest in travel news. Contact her on carla.mascarenhas@austcommunitymedia.com.au
