Sydney, Australia, Sep 5, 2019 / 14:03 pm
As the Australian state of New South Wales considers a bill to decriminalize abortion, two members of parliament from the governing coalition are threatening to separate from the majority government if certain limiting amendments to the bill do not pass.
Tanya Davies and Kevin Conolly told the state's premier, Gladys Berejiklian, that they will "no longer sit in the party room" if amendments to the bill are not passed, which would push the Liberal Party and National Party coalition into minority government, The Guardian reports.
The government would go from 48 to 46 seats in the lower house, the Legislative Assembly; it is already in the minority in the Legislative Council.
The amendments the MPs are pushing for include the removal of provisions in the bill which require doctors who have a conscientious objection to performing abortions to refer patients elsewhere.