NSW abortion law reform push defeated

A bid to decriminalise abortion in NSW has failed after a bill aimed at reforming the decades-old legislation was comprehensively voted down.

Cries of "shame" were heard from the public gallery as Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi's Abortion Law Reform Bill was defeated 25 to 14 in the upper house on Thursday.

The private member's bill would have removed abortion from the Crimes Act and brought the state's termination laws in line with other jurisdictions with the exception of Queensland.

It also would have introduced 150-metre exclusion zones around abortion clinics and service providers to protect women against harassment and intimidation by pro-life protesters.

Similar measures have been adopted in Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT.

Abortion is only legal in NSW and Queensland when a woman's physical or mental health is considered at risk.

An estimated 27,000 procedures are carried out in NSW each year.

Both sides of politics were granted a conscience vote on Thursday but a number of pro-choice MPs expressed concerns about details of the bill.

Labor health spokesman Walt Secord said he voted for the bill because he supported a woman's right to choose but he criticised Dr Faruqi for the way she handled the matter.

"Dr Faaruqi's bill is all about politics and her position in the Greens," he told AAP.

The state's peak doctors' group was similarly concerned about the breadth of the proposed legislation.

"We agree it is time to review the law in NSW and therefore recommend the matter should be referred to the Law Reform Commission for serious consideration if progress is to be made," Australian Medical Association state president Brad Frankum said.

Dr Faruqi pledged to continue her fight, saying she was confident her bill would pass under a less conservative government.

"It is really disappointing to see that every member of the Liberal and National party voted against decriminalisation of abortion and only one of them stood up to tell the community why," she said of the debate.

"This bill was not about promoting or not promoting abortion. It was about choice."

Dozens of supporters and opponents of the proposed legislation gathered outside NSW parliament before the vote on Thursday morning carrying placards which read: "Keep your law out of my uterus" or "babies deserve better."

"Politicians should take note, as the tide has well and truly turned on this issue," Human Rights Law Centre spokeswoman Emily Howie said in a statement.

"In 2017 it is unbelievable that people are at risk of prosecution for their part in a medical procedure - yet that is the reality for women and doctors in NSW".