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Are babies really being born alive and left to die post-abortion in Australia? Tragically, yes. Here are the statistics from Queensland and Victoria.

Predictably, the introduction of the Human Rights (Children Born Alive Protection) Bill 2022 to the Australian Senate has sparked debate over the necessity of the Bill.

Some activists have argued that the Bill is “medically unnecessary” and “irrelevant in 99 per cent of cases” and a Labor MP asserted that “serious concerns have already been raised about the lack of factual basis for the central claims” used to justify the Bill.

In a TikTok video, The Australian newspaper even claimed that “a lot of medical experts say this doesn’t happen.”

Data from Queensland

We have records from Queensland Health’s “Perinatal Annual Reports” up to 2020. The data can be found in Table 10.13 of each report. The following statistics are the “neonatal” deaths wherein the main condition is listed as “Termination of pregnancy”.

Year	Number of deaths	Percentage of neonatal deaths
2010	21	9.0%
2011	20	9.5%
2012	21	10.8%
2013	22	10.6%
2014	28	13.9%
2015	32	17.2%
2016	31	16.2%
2017	35	18.0%
2018	29	17.4%
2019	48	24.6%
2020	41	20.9%
Total	328	Average 15.28%

Observations

The number of neonatal deaths under these circumstances is gradually rising as is the percentage of neonatal deaths that are following a termination of pregnancy. In 2019, the numbers peaked with nearly a quarter (24.6%) of all neonatal deaths listing “termination of pregnancy” as the main condition. According to these figures, an average of almost thirty babies die post-birth every year following an abortion procedure.

Data From Victoria

The data from Victoria are taken from the Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity’s “Victoria’s Mothers and Babies” Annual Reports between the years 2010 and 2020. With one exception (noted), these statistics are for “neonate congenital abnormality”[1] deaths or “TOP [termination of pregnancy] for suspected or confirmed CA resulting in NND [neonatal death]”.

Year	Number of deaths
2010 (see page 135 of the report)	24
2011 (see page 136 of the report)	40
2012 (see page 96 of the report)	53
2013 (see page 97 of the report)	43
2014 (see page 92 of the report)	38*
2015 (see page 93 of the report)	31
2016 (see page 111 of the report)	33
2017 (see page 90 of the report)	28
2018 (see page 71 of the report)	29
2019 (see page 50 of the report)	34
2020 (see page 70 of the report)	43
Total	396*

*Including one termination of pregnancy for maternal psychosocial indication (MPI). All other statistics are for suspected or confirmed CA resulting in NND.

Observations

The number of deaths in Victoria peaked between 2011 and 2014 (with an average of 43.5 babies losing their lives each year during that period). A sharp decline in 2015 was followed by a gradual increase in 2019 and 2020. The average number of deaths per year in Victoria is higher than that in Queensland (36 per year compared with 30 per year).

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[1] Also known as “birth defects”, congenital abnormalities can be defined as “conditions of prenatal origin that are present at birth, potentially impacting an infant’s health, development and/or survival.” According to one authoritative “case definition“, they “encompass a wide array of structural and functional abnormalities” and “vary substantially in severity.”

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On 30 November 2022, three senators introduced a Bill — the Human Rights (Children Born Alive Protection) Bill 2022 — that seeks “to enhance Australia’s human rights protections for children by ensuring that all children are afforded the same medical care and treatment as any other person, including those born alive as a result of a termination” (quoting from the Human Rights (Children Born Alive Protection) Bill 2022, Explanatory Memorandum).

If you want to raise awareness and support for this bill, you can do the following:

1. Most importantly, please be in prayer for the passage of this legislation.
2. The Daily Declaration has published multiple articles on this Bill. Please consider sharing them on social media or via email:
   1. “‘Every Child Has the Inherent Right to Life’ — Senator Canavan Delivers Powerful Pro-Life Speech”,
   2. “Senators Re-Introduce Crucial Bill to Protect Babies Left to Die Each Year”
3. Please email, phone and/or meet with your senators (find your state senators’ emails here), urging them to put their support behind the passage of this legislation.
4. Finally, please consider sharing the following posts far and wide on social media:
   1. Senator Matt Canavan
   2. Senator Alex Antic
   3. Senator Ralph Babet

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Photo by Pixabay.