One Nation MPs advance 25-week abortion ban despite majority opposition
The Guardian reports that One Nation’s alignment with fringe anti-abortion groups raises concerns about reproductive rights, as support for abortion rights in Australia remains above 80 per cent.
The One Nation party is facing scrutiny for its association with the fringe anti-abortion movement, a development highlighted in an opinion piece by Van Badham published in The Guardian. The scrutiny centres on legislative efforts by South Australian MP Sarah Game, who was elected as a One Nation representative but now sits as an independent. Game has proposed legislation to ban abortion after 25 weeks, a measure that applies even in cases of severe foetal abnormalities.
The proposed legislation is supported by three other One Nation upper-house representatives. This coalition could potentially force a vote in the lower house, advancing a policy that seeks to restrict access to termination services. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has regularly appeared in public with anti-abortion extremists, and party MP Barnaby Joyce headlined an anti-abortion event in Sydney.
Badham’s article draws parallels between One Nation’s political trajectory and the US experience following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned the right to an abortion. The piece cites specific health outcomes in US states with total abortion bans, including a 50 per cent rise in sepsis rates in second-trimester pregnancy-loss hospitalisations in Texas. The article also notes increased neonatal deaths, worsened miscarriage care, and an estimated 64,000 rape pregnancies in 14 states with total bans.
The opinion piece notes that abortion was decriminalised in all Australian states and territories approximately three years ago, following sustained activism. It asserts that support for abortion rights in Australia is conservatively estimated at over 80 per cent of the population, a statistic used to frame the current legislative push as contrary to majority public opinion.
The article frames the current political climate through the lens of social anxiety, comparing One Nation’s rise to historical horror metaphors. It references the commercial-viability ethos in Jaws, the aristocratic class in Dracula, and the concept of "incel horror" in contemporary cinema to illustrate anxieties around patriarchal control and loss of agency. The piece concludes by urging political resistance to One Nation’s policies.