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South Australia’s Upper House has voted down MLC Sarah Game’s bill that sought to protect viable unborn babies from abortion, rejecting the measure by 8 votes to 11 on Wednesday night, 12 November.

The Termination of Pregnancy (Restrictions on Terminations after 22 Weeks and 6 Days) Amendment Bill 2025, introduced by Independent MLC Sarah Game, would have limited abortions from 23 weeks’ gestation to cases where it was necessary to save the mother’s life or where severe foetal abnormalities were detected.

Its defeat means abortion will continue to be lawful in South Australia up to birth for reasons including “mental health” ones.

“A Basic Moral Line”

Introducing her bill, Ms Game told Parliament the measure “does not take away care from women in crisis” nor prevent medical treatment in emergencies.

“What it does,” she said, “is restore a basic moral line. Once a baby is viable — once that child could live outside the womb — we must not deliberately kill them. A woman facing a severe mental health crisis would still be treated under this bill. A late-term abortion is not a cure for her mental health problems.”

Between July 2022 and December 2024, 79 healthy, viable babies were aborted after 22 weeks and 6 days due to the “physical or mental health of the pregnant person.” According to this official state health data, this number represents around 75% of all abortions performed from 23 weeks’ gestation onwards.

Ms Game said her bill sought to ensure that “such tragedies do not continue.”

Table: SA Health data recording number and reasons for abortions post 22 weeks and 6 days from 2022–2024.

Strong Public Support for the Bill

A public rally organised by University of Adelaide law professor Joanna Howe drew thousands of South Australians to the steps of Parliament House. In numbers similar to rallies held last year, children held white balloons as invited speakers implored the crowd to continue advocating for abortion reform.

Moments before her bill was voted upon and defeated, Ms Game referenced those who had gathered outside the parliamentary building, saying the occurrence was “unusual”.

“We do a lot of talking in this place, and we are all in here working, talking and doing things that I guess we deem are important, but the reality is a lot of people are not really listening, and they do not turn up to show much care about what we are saying”, she said.

“But every time we have this debate, a lot of people turn up. Hundreds of people turn up to say, ‘We really care about what happens to these babies.’”

Ms Game then rebuked her parliamentary colleagues who “still want to go with the narrative that this is a niche issue, that we are wasting time again in parliament about something that is not important.”

“It is totally incongruent with what is happening outside. It is a rare occasion where we are talking and people are turning up to listen. That does not happen very often and not to that sort of size of crowds, so it is not a niche issue, and we are not wasting time.”

After Wednesday night’s debate concluded, The Advertiser reported that a petition sponsored by the SA Abortion Action Coalition gathered 4,000 signatures opposing the bill. However, the article ignored mentioning a petition backing the bill — organised by pro-life academic Dr Joanna Howe — received over 16,000 signatures in support.

Vote a Step Backwards for Pro-Life Movement

The bill’s defeat mirrored the result of a similar proposal last year by Liberal MLC Ben Hood, which was lost by a single vote.

This time, the numbers remained largely unchanged — except for one key shift.

Former Liberal MLC Jing Lee, now an Independent, voted against Ms Game’s bill despite having supported Mr Hood’s earlier version in 2024.

In explaining her decision, Ms Lee quoted Dr Nisha Khot, President-elect of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG), who submitted that “One of the many troubling aspects of how this bill has been presented is that the mental health of the pregnant person will no longer be considered a relevant rationale for a decision to terminate.”

“This is enormously problematic. Mental health is health, and it is no less important to the overall well-being and ability to safely carry a pregnancy to term than is physical health”, Dr Khot argued.

Ms Lee also acknowledged consultations with the Islamic Society of South Australia and The Imam Council of South Australia in reaching her decision, as well as conversations with “Christian pastors, Buddhists, Hindus and many others who have diverse views on this topic.”

“Love Them Both”

Labor MLC Claire Scriven, a long-time advocate for mothers and the unborn, delivered one of the night’s most striking speeches.

Quoting feminist scholars critical of abortion culture, she argued that terminating the lives of children in the womb often places the burden of ‘choice’ solely on women while absolving others of responsibility.

“If a child is unwanted — by her partner, her parents, or her employer — it will be her duty to undergo an invasive procedure and emotional trauma to sort the situation out,” Ms Scriven argued.

“She is told, ‘It is your choice, therefore you are on your own.’ The same attitude carries over to the woman who chooses to continue a pregnancy. She finds that she is on her own in that as well.”

Drawing from feminist Catharine MacKinnon, Scriven stated that “abortion… was legalised to serve a man’s requirement for sexual access to women and to enable him to be free of the inconvenient results of that access, that is, children. Abortion is often easier for everyone around her, around the woman or girl who is pregnant, because then they do not need to address the actual problem, the actual problem being support for women and girls who find themselves pregnant unexpectedly or in difficult circumstances.”

“Many in the pro-life movement do just that,” Ms Scriven said as she praised pro-life advocates who provide practical support for pregnant women and new mothers.

“They support those women and girls… They open their homes, provide care, babysitting, and support for mothers and their babies both before and after birth.”

“That is ‘Love them both’ not just in words, but in actions.”

‘We Continue the Fight for Life’

Despite the bill’s defeat, pro-life leaders and Christian organisations pledged to continue advocating for reform.

Speaking outside Parliament House following the vote, Ms Game thanked the thousands of South Australians who had gathered in prayerful support and vowed to reintroduce similar legislation during the remainder of her current term.

“I will not give up on this fight,” she said. “South Australians were promised in 2021 that healthy babies would not be aborted after viability. I intend to hold Parliament to that promise.”

Ms Game’s current term will come to an end in 2030, after she was elected to SA’s Legislative Council in 2022.

Pro-Life organisation Love Adelaide publicly thanked those parliamentarians who voted in favour of the bill and requested their supporters to “please contact these eight MLC’s and thank them for voting to protect viable babies.”

“We continue on in the fight for life.”

Record of Voting

Voted for the Bill (8)

Sarah Game 08 8237 9100
Game.Office@parliament.sa.gov.au

Nicola Centofanti 08 8237 9350
centofanti.office@parliament.sa.gov.au

Heidi Girolamo 08 8237 9361
Girolamo.office@parliament.sa.gov.au

Ben Hood 08 8237 9520
BenHood.Office@parliament.sa.gov.au

Dennis Hood 08 8237 9100
hood.office@parliament.sa.gov.au

Tung Ngo 08 8237 9276
tung.mlc@parliament.sa.gov.au

Frank Pangallo 08 8237 9100
pangallo.office@parliament.sa.gov.au

Clare Scriven 08 8226 2931
Minister.Scriven@sa.gov.au

Two additional parliamentarians can be thanked for their support. Liberal MLC Laura Henderson supported the bill (her vote was paired) and if the vote was tied, President of the Legislative Council (Upper House) Terry Stephens (Liberal) would have used his casting vote in favour of the bill.

Voted Against the Bill (11)

Paired

President’s Casting Vote

If the vote were a tie, President of the Legislative Council (Upper House) Terry Stephens (Liberal) would have used his casting vote in favour of the bill.