Decriminalising abortion in NSW should pave the way for Wagga women to have greater access to reproductive health services, according to an advocate.
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Jan Roberts, one of the pioneers of the Wagga Women's Health Centre, said she was happy to see the bill passed on Thursday.
"But I found the whole debate pretty distressing," she said.
Ms Roberts said she was concerned some doctors who supported the bill had been "labelled as barbaric" by its opponents.
She hopes now the debate is over, there will be changes in the services women can access.
"It will give women more choice and good medical care and hopefully make things more affordable.
"It's been a stumbling block for some medical practitioners, especially in rural areas, because it would have always been in the back of their minds that the law could have been used against them.
"I hope the change in the law will make it possible now for our publicly funded hospital to be a little more open to services, which at the moment are only available in life-threatening situations."
Ms Roberts has appealed to The Nationals' Wes Fang to act on his calls for more reproductive health services in the Riverina. Mr Fang, in turn, has renewed his support for these additional services.
"I think that we need to ensure that services that are available in metropolitan areas are available in rural and regional areas," he said.
"With Wagga having such a strong, growing community, it would be sensible for us to have those services and for women not to have to travel.
"I have already made preliminary contact with the Minister for Health's office and, at this stage, we need to work with the providers to see how we can assist in bringing not only abortion, but all reproductive services to Wagga.
"The reality is that we need all reproductive health services, including IVF and the like.
"That is predominantly the area of private providers, so we need to work with the stakeholders in Wagga to create a framework that will attract those providers."
Mr Fang said it was essential to have the support of Member for Wagga Joe McGirr on the issue.
Dr McGirr said he had already begun inquiring what service options were available here.
"I supported the amendments and I think they have strengthened the act. There's no question about that," Dr McGirr said.
It passed after five sitting days, 122 amendments, 26 divisions, and 30 hours and 24 minutes in the committee of the whole.
"That reflects the fact that the process - as I've said all along - wasn't good. I think the amendments have improved and strengthened the act and I'm happy that's happened," Dr McGirr said.
"But, I still think the amendment on conscientious objection falls short on what I would have liked."
