This is the fourth attempt by Christian Democrat Fred Nile to introduce a bill for NSW, which would redefine at what stage of gestation a foetus becomes a person and would make it a crime to cause serious harm or death to a foetus.

Caitlin Langley, a Riverina reproductive rights advocate, said she does not think the law takes into account the best available scientific evidence that suggests when a human life begins. 

“Using the premise that human life begins at conception, that is a theory not a fact,” she said. 

“Fred Nile’s proposed legislation will take away people’s choices for the own bodies and that is fundamentally opposed to the progressive system. It would be taking three steps backwards.” 

Helen Pringle, in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales, cautions against making the discussion around the proposal “too simple”. 

“It’s up to the government and society to find the line between making sure women have access to reproductive rights and acknowledging the sorrow of women who have lost their child to a criminal act,” she said.

“It’s frustrating to some to be told it’s complex because they feel like it’s stepping away, but you have to make a decision.” 

Dr Pringle said even if the bill is not passed, it will come up again so politicians need to think carefully about it. 

“I can understand that people might be suspicious of Fred Nile’s motives when it comes to reproductive rights, but Trevor Khan’s amendments should see abortion left out of it,” she said. 

The Nationals’ MLC Trevor Khan has drafted a package of amendments to Reverend Nile's bill in an effort to break the stalemate that has seen previous versions of the bill repeatedly fail, Fairfax Media reports. 

His proposal includes several major changes: an exclusion for abortion, a definition of a foetus as being a minimum of 24 weeks, and changing the name so that it is no longer called Zoe's Law.

Mr Khan led the push for “safe access zones” to be legislated around NSW abortion clinics and told Fairfax Media there was "good will across the whole of the parliament to do something on this".

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian committed to introducing the law if her government wins the March election.