ANKARA (AA) – New South Wales became the last state in Australia to pass a bill to allow terminally ill people to choose to end their lives on Thursday, local media reported.

Voluntary assisted dying was legalized after majority of the state parliament voted in favor, daily Sydney Morning Herald said.

The first bill was introduced into the state’s parliament in 2002, however MPs resisted to legalize the act. After 20 years, the new bill, which was introduced by an Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, was approved by the parliament, according to report.

State Finance Minister Damien Tudehope, who was among MPs opposing the bill, called it a “dark day” for New South Wales.

“It was a sad day because it was an opportunity for New South Wales to say ‘we can be better than this’,” the daily quoted Tudehope as saying.

He added that the decision of parliament would be judged by the history as a “dreadful mistake.”

Voluntary assisted dying in Australia is a process to access medication and to enable a person to legally choose the manner and timing of their death, according to the Health Department of Western Australia.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid