Anti-abortion fight evolves into ‘noxious brew’

By Kat Wong
June 5 2026

Anti-immigrant rhetoric is playing a growing role in the pro-life movement as conservative politicians attempt to revive their attacks on abortion rights.

The debate over reproductive healthcare has returned to the national spotlight after One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce spoke at an anti-abortion rally outside NSW Parliament as his party rides a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment to new polling highs.

While the anti-abortion movement has a long history in Australia, this latest push appears to have a new, racialised tilt.

Continued: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9287146/anti-abortion-fight-evolves-into-noxious-brew/

05.06.2026

sex selection abortion

sex-selective abortion

One Nation wants to roll back abortion rights in Australia – and is emboldening activists seeking US-style laws

Support for Pauline Hanson’s populist party has given fresh impetus to a loose network of activists trying to chip away at reproductive rights

Tory Shepherd
Mon 1 Jun 2026

The headline act at a Sydney anti-abortion rally being held on Tuesday in support of Libertarian MP John Ruddick’s bill to restrict abortion will not be Ruddick.

It will be the One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce. Joyce left the Nationals last year, not long after he was rebuked for his statements about abortion.

The dramatic rise in the polls of his new party has given fresh impetus to a loose network of anti-abortion groups trying to chip away at reproductive rights.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/01/one-nation-rise-anti-abortion-groups-australia-ntwnfb

Australia – Barnaby Joyce and Andrew Hastie rebuked for ‘playing politics’ on abortion in debate on stillbirth leave

Experts warn the fearmongering about late-term terminations is straight out of the anti-abortion handbook

Tory Shepherd, Krishani Dhanji and Josh Butler
Thu 30 Oct 2025

A group of Coalition parliamentarians, including Barnaby Joyce and Andrew Hastie, have seized on a proposed new law to give paid parental leave to parents of a child who is stillborn or dies, arguing it should not be available to anyone needing a late-term abortion.

A senior doctor has labelled the comments as “terrible, cynical, awful” things to say about an often heartbreaking decision, as experts point out that the vast majority of later terminations are forced by major health issues and warn fearmongering about the issue is straight out of the anti-abortion handbook.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/30/abortion-stillbirth-leave-barnaby-joyce-andrew-hastie-playing-politics

A doctor’s story shows ‘late-term’ abortion access is politically charged – but crucial

September 2, 2025
Prudence Flowers, Senior Lecturer in US History, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University

Review: Beyond Limits: Stories of Third-Trimester Abortion Care – Shelley Sella, MD (Random House)

In the United States, around 1% of abortions occur after 21 weeks. Yet these abortions are intensely vilified. Recall Donald Trump’s graphic and false claim that US laws allowed doctors to “rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month, on the final day”.

For two decades, Dr Shelley Sella provided abortion care in the US into the third trimester of pregnancy: that is, after 26 weeks gestation. Her new book Beyond Limits offers an intimate account of health care and politics, written from the front lines of America’s abortion wars.

In Australia, abortion after 20 weeks gestation is also statistically rare – and most Australians agree that people need abortions after 20 weeks for a variety of medical and social reasons. However, in the last year or so, the focus on later abortions seems to be intensifying here, along with misinformation.

Continued; https://theconversation.com/a-doctors-story-shows-late-term-abortion-access-is-politically-charged-but-crucial-263920

02.09.2025

anti-choice lies

anti-choice terrorism

third-trimester abortion

Tony Abbott

Hate over love: conservative influencers have brought angrier anti-abortion politics to Australia

May 27, 2025
Prudence Flowers

After two decades of abortion decriminalisation across Australian states and territories, there has been a sudden surge of anti-abortion activity online, in the streets and in parliaments.

Since 2022, right-to-life bills were introduced federally and in Queensland and were voted on in South Australia. During the 2024 Queensland state election, one politician vowed to introduce a conscience vote on abortion to return it to criminal law.

Continued https://theconversation.com/hate-over-love-conservative-influencers-have-brought-angrier-anti-abortion-politics-to-australia-257444

Abortion is back in the headlines in Australia. The debates in the United States tell us why

October 23, 2024
Prudence Flowers

The 2022 news that the US Supreme Court had overturned Roe v Wade and ended the constitutional right to abortion sent shockwaves around the world.

For Australian opponents of abortion who had long looked to the US for leadership and inspiration, it prompted rejoicing. As a leader of Cherish Life Queensland put it, “if the USA can do it, with God’s help, so can we”.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/abortion-is-back-in-the-headlines-in-australia-the-debates-in-the-united-states-tell-us-why-241778

Will abortion be the issue that swings the 2024 US presidential election?

January 31, 2024
Prudence Flowers, Flinders University

Abortion is shaping up to be a central issue for both parties in the 2024 US presidential and Congressional elections.

Nearly two years ago, the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, finding there was no constitutional right to abortion and returning regulation to the states.

Since that decision (a case known as Dobbs v. Jackson), 14 states now ban abortion in almost all circumstances and ten have imposed restrictions, some of which have been blocked by the courts. One in three women of reproductive age now live in states that have either banned or restricted abortion.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/will-abortion-be-the-issue-that-swings-the-2024-us-presidential-election-219495

31.01.2024

Commentary

abortion bans

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

The end of Roe v. Wade would likely embolden global anti-abortion activists and politicians

Published: May 4, 2022
Prudence Flowers

A leaked United States Supreme Court draft opinion reveals it is poised to strike down Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that guaranteed abortion as a constitutional right.

The end of Roe v. Wade would dramatically impact reproductive rights in the US. It would also likely have symbolic consequences globally, shaping the strategies and tactics of the trans-national anti-abortion movement.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/the-end-of-roe-v-wade-would-likely-embolden-global-anti-abortion-activists-and-politicians-182345

04.05.2022