Sydney pro-life supporters turned out in force at New South Wales Parliament House to support a bill introduced by Libertarian MLC John Ruddick on the same day to ban sex-selective abortion in the state.
More than 1000 people of all ages and walks of life attended the rally on 22 October, despite temperatures soaring past 35-plus degrees, in the third anti-abortion rally held outside Parliament House this year.
Prominent pro-life advocate Dr Joanna Howe said the crowd’s support for the bill represented concerns from both Christian and non-Christian groups about the practice of abortion in Australia.
“We’ve had two rallies fighting an egregious abortion bill here in NSW, we’ve now had a rally today to continue our cause, and I think it’s safe to say from what I’ve witnessed, you don’t have to be a Christian to oppose abortion as a practice,” she said.
“Anybody who knows and understands their human rights can see that abortion is an evil practice, particularly if it comes at the expense of the lives of little girls or little boys across Australia.”
Liberal MLC Susan Carter told the crowd the practice highlighted double standards regarding the treatment of women in NSW.
“There is no law in New South Wales that says we cannot terminate a life simply because it is female, and that law has to change,” she said.
In May a study by researchers based at Edith Cowan University and Curtin University revealed there was a disproportionate number of male over female births among certain migrant populations in New South Wales and Western Australia during the period 1994–2015.
The researchers said it was indirect evidence of sex-selective abortion practices.
In his second reading speech, Ruddick reminded his colleagues in parliament that it had voted “firmly” against the practice of gender-based abortions in 2019.
“But that vote only created guidelines and provided no form of punishment for the medical practitioners. In light of the Edith Cowan University and Curtin University research, the time has come for this Parliament to take action [and] impose penalties on medical professionals who knowingly engage in a gender-based abortion,” he said.
Dr Howe later told The Catholic Weekly the new bill also aimed to “send a signal” to other jurisdictions beyond New South Wales.
“Aborting babies on the basis of their gender is just not going to happen, and I can tell you now [this bill] is going to make a difference.”
Naomi Bunker, an executive member of Pro-Life Health Professionals Australia and a professional nurse for the last 25 years, also spoke at the rally, calling sex-selective abortion “a form of gender violence.”
Lina de Quatro, a childcare worker who attended the event with a group of people wearing T-shirts with the slogan ‘Baby Savers Club’ said she felt it was her duty as a taxpayer to come in support of the bill.
“People from all walks of life have attended today to support this cause because the Bible tells every Christian that we should be defenders of children and the vulnerable,” she said.
Daniel Russell, a parishioner from Our Lady of the Rosary parish in St Marys, said the turnout reflected how “common sense” was prevailing in the abortion debate.
“At the end of the day, regardless of the gender of the baby, it is a human from conception, and I’m here today to protect that at all costs,” he said.
