People in the public gallery yelled, "Shame!" as the New South Wales Parliament defeated a bill to end the 100 year old prohibition on abortion rights.

The Abortion Law Reform Bill introduced by Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi went down 25 to 14 in the upper house.  It would have: Taken offenses relating to abortion removed from the Crimes Act and common law; required doctors who object to abortion to refer patients to a physician who will help; and established 150 meter safe access zones around clinics that provide abortions to protect patients and staff from harassment.

Ms. Faruqi released a statement after the bill was defeated:  "It is really disappointing to see that every member of the Liberal and National party voted against decriminalization of  abortion and only one of them stood up to tell the community why," she wrote.

"It was disappointing to see every member of the Liberal and National party vote against decriminalization while only one of them actually stood up to tell the community why?

"It is a shame that these politicians didn't have the courage to see through the highly resourced and highly organized scare campaigns waged by the Catholic Church and other anti-choice groups.  Ultimately, they will have to explain to their communities why they refused to support this pro-choice bill."