The reform bill sought to amend section 65 of the Victorian Crimes Act 1958, which had codified the common law offences relating to abortion.
The reform also repealed section 10 of the Crimes Act dealing with a separate offence of child destruction.
[3][4] All political parties allowed members of Parliament to have a conscience vote, and in October 2008 the bill was passed by both houses, as the Abortion Law Reform Act 2008.
[6] During the debate, various members of Parliament moved up to 40 amendments to the bill, the majority of which sought to either change the 24-week upper limit on unrestricted abortions or impose other restrictions.
During 2014, former Liberal MP Geoff Shaw unsuccessfully attempted to introduce a series of amendments in a private members bill which included resuscitating babies aborted alive.