Sydney, Australia, May 13, 2017 / 17:08 pm
Catholics in the Australian state of New South Wales applauded the rejection of bills in the upper house of the parliament that would have legalized abortion.
Archbishop Anthony Fisher, O.P. of Sydney called the defeat of "extreme" bills legalizing abortion in the state "great news" in a Facebook post on Thursday.
The proposed laws were voted down 25-14 in the New South Wales legislative council on Thursday.
Abortions had been listed as criminal acts, although previous court rulings determined that doctors could perform them in certain cases where the physical or emotional health of women were deemed to be at stake. Currently, there are between 25,000 and 35,000 abortions performed per year in the state, according to the group Right to Life NSW.