Crisis as Church of England votes against women bishops It comes despite huge support for the measure in the Church of England and could open the way to years of acrimony and recriminations. A total of 42 of the church's 44 dioceses have given backing to women bishops in a lengthy consultation exercise as part of a tortuous 12-year legal process. Did the General Synod make the right decision to reject women bishops? The narrow no-vote has effectively killed off the prospect of women bishops in the Church of England for another five years, because of Synod rules. Campaigners for women bishops had already accepted major compromises in an effort to keep traditionalist Anglo-Catholics and conservative evangelicals, who believe women's ministry is against the teaching of the Bible, within the church. There was to be a special arrangement for traditionalist parishes allowing them to opt out of the authority of a female bishop and request a male alternative chosen to "respect" their theological convictions. Around 900 of the Church's 13,000 parishes were thought likely to take up the offer. But opponents said the arrangement did not offer them enough legal safeguards. Many campaigners for women bishops had also voiced reservations that the deal was a "compromise too far," effectively enshrining in law a two-tier episcopate. There will now almost certainly be calls in Parliament for the Church of England's special exemption from equality legislation - effectively allowing it to discriminate against women by barring them from becoming bishops - to be taken away. That would open the way for women to bring a legal challenge to their exclusion. If successful, it could lead to women to becoming bishops without any of the carefully arranged safeguards for traditionalists agreed by Synod. But the failure could also have a devastating effect on morale in parishes, particularly among women clergy. Speaking before the vote, Hilary Cotton, a long-standing campaigner from the Watch (Women and The Church) group said: "If it goes down I just don't know what will happen in the medium term - it will be terrible for the Church. There will be a huge loss of morale affecting the clergy who are the ones who have to keep the institution going, not just among women clergy but also among male clergy. I don't know of any plan B. The House of Bishops voted 44 in favour, with three against and two recorded abstentions. In the House of Clergy, 148 voted in favour, 45 against and there were no abstentions. But in the House of Laity, 74 voted against, compared to 132 in favour with no abstentions.