Breaking: Bill restricting late-term abortions passes SA upper house

South Australia's upper house has passed a bill to restrict access to late-term abortion.

The legislation passed 10 votes to 9 on Wednesday afternoon with the support of three newly-elected One Nation MPs.

It will be debated by the lower house later on Wednesday evening.

The bill, introduced by Family First MP Sarah Game, effectively bans abortion from 25 weeks onwards except when it is necessary to save the life of the mother or there are serious fetal abnormalities.

The original bill precluded fetal abnormalities as a reason for access to a late-term abortion, however the exemption was later included after an amendment by Labor MP Tung Ngo.

It requires that two medical practitioners consider there is a case or a "significant risk" of serious fetal anomalies that would be "incompatible with survival after birth".

South Australian law currently permits abortions after 23 weeks, with the approval of two doctors, if the continuation of the pregnancy would involve "significant risk of injury to the physical or mental health" of the pregnant person.

This bill removes that exemption.

The Labor and Liberal parties allowed a conscience vote on the bill; the Greens voted against while One Nation supported it.

The bill is the third conservative push to change South Australia's abortion laws since 2024, but the first to pass the upper house.

Speaking on the floor of parliament, Ms Game said there was support for the bill following the March election result.

"The composition of this chamber has changed; it's changed due to the voting of the public," she said.

"The public's been fully aware of the new parties that have entered this chamber and their stance on abortion."

Greens MLC Melanie Selwood said she was "shocked and appalled" to be debating the bill again.

"I would much rather be here talking about safe and equitable access to abortion," Ms Selwood said.

"But instead, I'm having to defend fundamental healthcare."

Amendment backed by supporters of legislation

Supporters of Ms Game’s legislation also backed the amendment put forward by Mr Ngo to include an exemption for serious fetal abnormalities.

Upper house Liberal MP Dennis Hood said while he would have preferred the bill passed in its original form, "politics is the art of the possible" and the change would make the bill "more palatable to many people".

Mr Ngo said he did not support late-term abortion but “I am also against forcing families into suffering when the medical reality is clear and the outcome is heartbreak”.

"We trust families every day with decisions about life and death, we trust them because they are the ones that love that person most," he said.

"So, why would we deny that trust to families facing the most devastating news imaginable?"

Labor upper house MP Russel Wortley called on lower house MPs to vote against the legislation.

"[While] the numbers have changed in this house, which is obvious, it's also changed in the lower house," he said.

"And there are 34 members of the Labor Party in that chamber, and I know there are a number of members of the opposition and independents who don’t support this bill.

"We fought the battle twice and we won it. I would now implore members of the lower house to respect the rights of women to make their decision."

Premier says final vote will happen tonight in lower house

Earlier on Wednesday, Premier Peter Malinauskas said the bill would be brought to a vote in the lower house on Wednesday evening if it passed the upper house.

There are 34 Labor MPs in the lower house – 33 when excluding the speaker – compared to the Liberal party's five, One Nation's four and four independents.

One Labor source told the ABC there was "nervous optimism" the bill would be voted down in the lower house.