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

The fight for abortion rights in Australia is far from over

by Dr Amanda Cohn
May 26, 2026

Abortion is legal in every Australian state and territory, after decades of campaigning. But it wasn’t long ago that I was a doctor living in Albury NSW (where abortion was still in the Crimes Act), and therefore worked across the river in Wodonga Victoria to provide abortion that was both legal and government-funded.

In 2019, abortion was finally, finally decriminalised in NSW.

Many of us who campaigned for that legalisation might have felt like we’d achieved our goal– that the work was done. But Trump’s US is showing us how quickly those hard-fought rights can be lost, and the threat is closer to home than you might think.

Continued: https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/the-fight-for-abortion-rights-in-australia-is-far-from-over/

The fight for abortion rights in Australia is far from over

by Dr Amanda Cohn
May 25, 2026

In 2019, abortion was finally, finally decriminalised in NSW.

Continued: https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/the-fight-for-abortion-rights-in-australia-is-far-from-over/

25.05.2026

sex selection abortion

In Central Asia, Pressure To Bear Sons Drives Sex-Selective Abortions

May 22, 2026
By Azattyq Asia
Video – 2:36 minutes

In Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and neighboring countries, newborn boys outnumber girls at a rate well beyond the worldwide average. That shift is the result of sex-selective abortion, in which families choose to terminate a pregnancy when a daughter is expected. Social scientists warn that this choice is not always made freely by pregnant women, who sometimes face coercion from their husbands and relatives.

Continued: https://www.rferl.org/amp/tajikistan-uzbekistan-sex-selective-abortion-demographics/33762791.html

23.05.2026

Videos/Images

patriarchy

sex selection abortion

Bangladesh court bans disclosure of unborn child’s sex

High Court announces full verdict; move aimed at preventing femicide in South Asian nation

SM Najmus Sakib
11 May 2026

The Bangladesh High Court on Monday ruled against disclosing the sex of a fetus in the womb in a move aimed at preventing femicide.

The bench, comprising Justice Naima Haider and Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque, announced the full verdict in the case filed in 2020. The court earlier issued a short order in February 2024.

Continued: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/bangladesh-court-bans-disclosure-of-unborn-child-s-sex/3933664

11.05.2026

News

Edward Pallab Rozario

sex selection abortion

Asia

Bangladesh

Law

India – Haryana tracks 3,962 abortion cases amid intensified operation against female foeticide

Ipsito Pati
May 11, 2026

Gurgaon: Haryana has reverse-tracked nearly 4,000 medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) /abortion cases over the past 18 months even as private hospitals have emerged as the biggest focus area.

The high number of abortions conducted at home has also emerged as a concern for authorities monitoring possible misuse of illegally procured MTP kits.

Continued: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/haryana-tracks-3962-abortion-cases-amid-intensified-operation-against-female-foeticide/articleshow/130998280.cms

11.05.2026

News

female foeticide

MTP kits

sex selection abortion

India – Probe ordered into 1,499 abortions registered in Eluru district in 2025

Collector K. Vetri Selvi directs Police, Medical and Health departments to deploy decoy parties and register cases against scanning centres violating the PCPNDT Act

February 15, 2026
Rajulapudi Srinivas

Eluru district registered 1,499 abortions in 2025, according to the Medical and Health Department, and the Collector has ordered a probe into the incidents.

The district has 115 scanning centres, including 102 private diagnostic centres, said officials from the department at a recently held meeting to review the enforcement of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994.

District Collector K. Vetri Selvi directed the Police and the Medical and Health Department officials to take all steps for a stricter enforcement of the Act. “The sex ratio is 934:1,000 in Eluru district, which is alarming. Those violating the PCPNDT Act should be booked,” the Collector said.

Continued: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/probe-ordered-into-1499-abortions-registered-in-eluru-district-in-2025/article70635520.ece

15.02.2026

News

K. Vetri Selvi

PCPNDT Act

Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act

sex selection abortion

Study: Sex-selective abortion bans harm maternal and infant health

A new study by Yale sociologist Emma Zang links sex-selective abortion bans to negative birth outcomes for Asian immigrant mothers.

Aug 29, 2025
By Mike Cummings

Sex-selective abortion bans (SSABs) — which prohibit the seeking of abortions based on the fetus’ sex — increase the likelihood of low birth weight and preterm births among infants born to Asian immigrant mothers, according to a new study by Yale sociologist Emma Zang.

The study also shows that the bans, which are law in 14 U.S. states, do not affect male-female sex ratios among infants born to these mothers, undermining the rationale behind them, Zang said.

Critics of the laws argue that proponents have invoked stereotypes about Asian immigrants holding a preference for male children.

Continued: https://news.yale.edu/2025/08/29/study-sex-selective-abortion-bans-harm-maternal-and-infant-health

29.08.2025

Emma Zang

gender determination

Keitaro Okura

male-female sex ratios

Melissa Tian

sex selection abortion

sex selection bans

sex-selective abortion

Illegal female infanticide on rise in Kalikot

Determination of the sex of a fetus and abortion based on the results are illegal in Nepal. Both the person conducting the test and the one requesting it can face legal action.

By Lalit Bista
April 19, 2025

KALIKOT: Determination of the sex of a fetus and abortion based on the results are illegal in Nepal. Both the person conducting the test and the one requesting it can face legal action.

However, a 28-year-old woman from Khadachakra Municipality in Kalikot recently underwent an abortion for the second time, just a week ago. She chose to terminate the pregnancy after discovering she was carrying a daughter again.

Continued: https://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/news/illegal-female-infanticide-on-rise-in-kalikot-41-19.html

19.04.2025