Tanya Davies, who has threatened to move to crossbench along with Kevin Conolly, tells protesters it is a ‘life and death’ issue

Dozens of protesters have chanted anti-abortion messages at MPs entering the Liberal party state council meeting amid tightening tensions over a move to decriminalise terminations in New South Wales.

The protesters loudly chanted “ditch the bill” and “stand for life” as they voiced their opposition on Saturday to the bill, which would allow women to choose to terminate their pregnancies up to 22 weeks or, with the approval of two doctors, terminate later pregnancies.

Liberal MP Tanya Davies, who has expressed her willingness to move to the crossbench over NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian’s handling of the private member’s bill, told the protesters to remain passionate but campaign with “the utmost respect and tolerance”.

MPs' threat over abortion bill could push NSW Liberals into minority government Read more

“I understand it’s a highly emotive issue and it should be,” she said. “It’s about life and death.

Should the Mulgoa MP, and fellow bill critic and Riverstone MP Kevin Conolly, move to the crossbench, the government would lose its thin majority in the 93-seat legislative assembly.

Meanwhile, a pro-choice lobby group on Saturday said the vast majority of NSW residents – including Liberal party voters – want to see abortion decriminalised.

The online poll commissioned by NSW Pro-Choice Alliance and conducted by the Online Research Unit suggested 72% of Liberal voters and 83% of National voters believed the law should be changed.

About one in three Liberal voters and half of all National voters said they would be less likely to vote for their local MP if they voted to keep abortion a crime.

“To continue to deny women safe and legal access to abortion is unconscionable and politically untenable,” Wendy McCarthy of the NSW Pro-Choice Alliance said.

The online survey conducted over the past week had a sample of 1,018 adults and was weighted to census data for region, age and gender.

Later on Saturday, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, told the conference: “I want to see more women in our parliament and I want to see the NSW division work with me and my team to deliver that on merit, on merit, that’s the key.”

He said it was not for him to tell members of the NSW division how it should select candidates.

“But we need to lift that representation and that’s your job,” he said. “I’m trusting you to deliver on those things.”