Australia – Coalition, One Nation revive push on abortion crackdown

By Lucinda Garbutt-Young
August 17 2026

Conservative politicians have reignited debate about the rights of babies born alive via terminations, joining with a prominent religious group to campaign for stricter policy.

Coalition MP Llew O'Brien introduced a bill to federal parliament on Monday, requesting comprehensive healthcare for infants who survived abortions.

"If every international obligation Australia had ever undertaken was swept away and only one could remain, for me, it would be the one that protects the fundamental human rights of our children," Mr O'Brien said, using the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child to bolster his arguments.

Continued: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9332086/coalition-one-nation-revive-push-on-abortion-crackdown/

17.08.2026

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Calls for investigation into anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe’s campaign spending

By national regional health reporter Lucy Barbour and ABC Regional Investigations' Andy Burns

July 2, 2026

It is two days before the South Australian election, and Labor MP Nat Cook is being chased around her pre-poll booth by someone you may have never heard of.

The woman is a fast-rising figure in the anti-abortion movement, and her platform has the backing of some of Australia's most powerful right-wing political figures.

Joanna Howe is determined to see abortion banned across the country, and is leveraging MAGA-style campaigning tactics to try to influence political outcomes. This pre-poll booth during the SA election is ground zero for her street-brawler approach.

Continued: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-03/anti-abortion-activist-joanna-howe-political-ads/106835816

Australia – Fear and ignorance should not drive abortion debate

By Aslan Shand
June 12, 2026

I did not think I would need to defend the right to safe abortions again. Abortion is no longer a criminal offence in Australia. There are well-reasoned and effective legal structures around abortions based on healthcare and women’s choice. It is broadly accepted that if you’re pregnant, it’s your decision to have children, or not.

But it appears that is not the case with extremists now proposing a range of ways to reduce women’s choices regarding their lives and reproduction. The overturning of Roe v Wade in the US has continued to embolden anti-abortion activists who are attempting to reduce women’s choices by introducing legislation in several Australian states that lacks factual basis and curtails women’s rights to make their own decisions.

Continued: https://www.echo.net.au/2026/06/fear-and-ignorance-should-not-drive-abortion-debate/

12.06.2026

Australia- Katter attempts to force discussion on abortion access in Queensland parliament despite ban on debate

By Sarah Richards and Ned Hammond
June 2, 2026

An attempt by Katter's Australian Party (KAP) to dodge a debate ban and revive abortion access discussion has been shot down in state parliament.

The subject became an issue ahead of the last Queensland election in October 2024, when KAP pledged to introduce legislation to repeal abortion laws after the poll.

After winning government, Premier David Crisafulli banned MPs from amending the Termination of Pregnancy Act or debating any motion that allowed the parliament to express a view on the law over the LNP's first term.

Continued; https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-02/katters-australian-party-abortion-drug-debate-crisafulli/106750096

02.06.2026

Termination of Pregnancy Act

Australia – Abortion battles erupt in two states

New legislation in QLD and NSW could impose further hurdles on health practitioners providing medical terminations.

02 June 2026
By Alyssa Talakovski

Dual threats to abortion care have emerged in both QLD and NSW, sparking pushback from GPs and nurses alike.

The Medicines and Poisons (Medicines) Amendment Regulation 2026 would enable more nurses and midwives in Queensland to administer the medical termination pill MS2-Step.

But Katter Australian Party leader Robbie Katter has lodged a disallowance motion against the amendment.

Continued: https://www.medicalrepublic.com.au/abortion-battles-erupt-in-two-states/126176

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

Rebel Queensland LNP MP urges colleagues to ‘put on the full armour of God’ and speak against abortion

Nigel Dalton says he sought to redeem himself ‘in the eyes of God’ by crossing the floor in an attempt to overturn the LNP’s abortion debate gag order

Andrew Messenger
Thu 12 Feb 2026

The rebel Liberal National party Queensland MP Nigel Dalton, who earlier this week defied the state’s premier, David Crisafulli, over the abortion law debate, has encouraged others “to put on the full armour of God” and speak out on the issue.

In an interview posted on YouTube, Dalton told the anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe his “history with anti-abortion has been probably 30-odd years in the making”.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/feb/12/nigel-dalton-mp-queensland-lnp-abortion-ntwnfb

12.02.2026

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

Queensland parliament passes ‘unprecedented’ gag on abortion debate

Ambush motion, introduced by David Crisafulli, aimed at preventing potential public disunity in LNP ranks by ensuring MPs won’t be forced into a conscience vote

Andrew Messenger
Tue 10 Dec 2024

The Queensland parliament has been banned from debate on abortion for four years after an ambush motion by the premier, David Crisafulli, in a move labelled “unprecedented”.

The motion also requires any “motion or amendment” seeking to have the house “express its views” on abortion be ruled out of order. Opposition and crossbench MPs labelled the move “extraordinary” and “unprecedented”.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/10/queensland-parliament-passes-unprecedented-gag-on-abortion-debate

10.12.2024

News

David Crisafulli

gag on abortion debate

‘We are not the US’: abortion erodes LNP winning margin

By Kat Wong
October 27 2024

Queensland voters have warned the major political parties not to unwind reproductive rights at the looming federal election.

Liberal National Party leader David Crisafulli claimed victory in the Queensland contest on Saturday night, putting an end to Labor's nine-year reign.

The LNP will likely have a majority, but the win was not the landslide opinion polls had predicted.

Continued: https://www.northweststar.com.au/story/8803002/we-are-not-the-us-abortion-erodes-lnp-winning-margin/

27.10.2024