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Last Thursday, Robbie Katter, from Katter’s Australian Party (KAP), introduced legislation into the Queensland parliament.

If passed, this legislation will enshrine the human right to life and medical care for all babies – even those born alive after an abortion.

“Shocked and Appalled”: Why the Bill is Needed

In a media release, Katter stated that “it is unconscionable that our state’s legislation is silent on how aborted babies born alive should be cared for.”

He went on to say, “I was shocked and appalled to hear that more than 30 babies are born alive after being aborted each year in Queensland”, the member for Traeger said.

“The former Health Minister, now Premier, in 2018 introduced legal abortion up to birth, and told Queenslanders that the number of abortions would not rise. That is a lie – they have doubled, from 152 in 2018 to 304 in 2021.”

“More abortions mean more children, human beings like you and I, are born alive.”

Katter’s bill, titled Termination of Pregnancy (Live Birth) Bill 2024, will amend The Termination of Pregnancy Act 2018. Stephen Miles – then Health Minister and now Premier – brought in the abortion up-to-birth legislation.

Live births after an abortion have steadily increased in Queensland. In 2005, there were eight. By 2017, that number had steadily increased to 35. And – these numbers were before abortion-to-birth came into law in 2018.

Not surprisingly, the year after the 2018 Act was enforced, the number of live births after abortion jumped to 48.

The Devastating Story of Baby Xanthe

Dr Joanna Howe, Professor of Law at the University of Adelaide and mother of five, addressed the press alongside Katter.

Howe referenced the incredibly tragic story of baby Xanthe, who was unexpectedly born alive at 19 weeks gestation. She was put on a metal kidney dish and left to die in a room on her own. She survived a further seven minutes.

“Without anyone to give her comfort care, Xanthe was abandoned by the Queensland medical system – the system that is meant to care for every patient – every human,” Howe said.

Katter responded, “My heart breaks hearing these horrifying stories of human lives, babies who were breathing the same air that you and I breathe, who were deprived of human rights and dignity.”

Howe thanked the KAP MP for his courage in introducing the bill into parliament. She said the bill will “protect the human rights of all Queenslanders from the moment of first breath. At the moment, these little babies fall through the cracks.”

“If they are born alive after an abortion, they do not have a legislative right to care.”

Regulations in SA and NSW

If the bill is passed, QLD will follow SA and NSW in providing legal protection to babies born alive after an abortion.

In 2021, an amendment was passed in SA’s Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2021. Tragically, the bill legislated abortion up to birth. But thanks to the amendment, medical professionals are required to provide the same medical care (‘birth equality’) to a baby born alive after an abortion as any other.

NSW has a similar provision.

Before October 2023, Queensland Health guidelines not only denied birth equality –they actively recommended against it.

The previous guidelines stated, “If a live birth occurs… Do not provide life-sustaining treatment.”

These barbaric guidelines were exposed during the inquiry into the federal Babies Born Alive Bill in July last year. Only a few months later, Queensland Health quietly amended its regulations. They now state, “If a baby is born with signs of life, provide care appropriate to the individual clinical circumstances and in accordance with best practice guidelines.”

Towards Full Birth Equality

While this is greatly improved, it still falls short of birth equality. Queensland Health changed its guidelines of its own volition in October 2023. And it can do it again. The fact remains that there is no legally binding obligation to treat all babies – wanted and unwanted – the same.

At least the improved health guidelines set the precedence for this new legislation.

It is legislation the KAP looks forward to being passed. Mr Katter said it “means we draw a line in the sand between the barbaric practice of leaving newborn babies to die after an abortion and we close that chapter and say, never again in Queensland.”

The Daily Declaration commends the courage of Robbie Katter, and calls on Queensland parliamentarians to support and pass this bill as an urgent matter of human rights.