IT is now officially illegal to harass those using Albury’s abortion clinic.
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The NSW governor has signed off on legislation passed in state parliament earlier this month banning certain behaviour within 150 metres of fertility control centres.
It is now an offence to interfere with access to the clinic, cause distress to those in the zone and film those in the 150-metre area.
Albury’s Englehardt Street clinic had been a driver for the new law, but it has not been open recently due to its doctor being ill.
Labor MLC Penny Sharpe, who co-sponsored the bill with Nationals MLC Trevor Khan, welcomed Governor David Hurley’s quick ascent of the legislation.
“ This is a small but very important change to the law that guarantees for the first time, that women in NSW have the right to go to the doctor to get the treatment they need without others seeking to interfere in their decisions and cause them harm and distress,” Ms Sharpe said.
“ It also means that the professional staff at clinics can get on with their jobs and provide the best quality health care they can to every patient who walks in the door.”