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Thousands of passionate pro-life advocates gathered outside NSW Parliament House on Tuesday evening, 2 June, to support legislation that would make sex-selective abortion illegal in New South Wales.

The rally, in support of legislation championed by Libertarian MLC John Ruddick, drew families, church leaders, politicians, and ordinary Australians united by a single conviction: that unborn girls deserve equal protection under law.

An Alarming Reality

The United Nations estimates 200 million girls globally are “missing” due to sex-selective abortion and infanticide.

Opponents of Ruddick’s bill have denied sex-selective abortion occurs in Australia. Liberal MLC Susan Carter disputed that claim.

“I’d like to believe that was the case, but it’s just not true,” Carter told the crowd.

“We have university studies showing it is happening. We have health department figures — flawed as they are — showing it is happening. And we have testimonies from health workers who know it is happening.”

“Now, whatever you think about abortion, whatever reason you can find to justify some abortion, there is no justification to abort someone simply because they are female.”

Research from Edith Cowan University confirms this alarming reality. Analysis of 2.1 million Australian births over two decades revealed that unborn girls are being deliberately targeted for termination, particularly within communities with a strong cultural son-preference.

MLC John Ruddick’s Brave Bill

NSW MLC John Ruddick’s Abortion Law Reform Amendment (Sex Selection Prohibition) Bill addresses this gendercide directly. The legislation would prohibit anyone from performing, assisting in, or permitting sex-selective abortions, whilst removing professional indemnity insurance coverage for practitioners who violate the law.

“We’re here at the front of Parliament House of New South Wales,” Ruddick told The Daily Declaration. “We’ve just had a pro-life rally in support of the bill I’m moving, which is saying that it should be a crime in New South Wales to abort a little baby girl in the womb because she’s a girl.

“It is happening, and we want to send a message through the law that it’s unacceptable in Australia.”

Parts of the crowd hold signs in support for a ban on sex-selective abortion. Source: Facebook.

‘Right Thing to Do’: Barnaby Joyce

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce implored the crowd to stand up “for those people who can’t stand up for themselves. And I call them people. They’re not foetuses. They are people.”

Joyce remained resolute that the sex-selective abortion bill must be supported, even when it carries political risk.

Joyce used an example of a person swimming out to save a drowning person, even if surrounded by sharks and with no one to witness the heroic act.

When asked why someone would do this, Joyce said the answer is always the same: “Because it is the right thing to do.”

He applied it directly: “We do this because it is the right thing to do.

“Politically, does this make you popular? Nope. You’ll probably lose half your votes. But you know why you do it? Because it’s the right thing to do.”

Joyce then challenged the crowd, “You must keep that fire burning for those people who can’t stand up for themselves — those babies who need someone to swim out amongst the sharks and stand up for them because it’s the right thing to do.

“That’s you.”

He then made a striking comparison to illustrate the inconsistency in Australia’s abortion laws.

“If, by some perverse form of logic, it was legal to kill toddlers if they were the wrong sex, we’d have a demonstration that would go from here, over the Harbour Bridge, all the way over to Manly, and all the way out to Blacktown,” he said.

“Yet, for some unknown reason, if they’re in utero, it’s okay. It is just perverse logic.”

Barnaby Joyce MP with Joanna Howe at the rally, with Susan Carter MLC immediately behind Joyce. Source: Facebook.

‘One of the Hardest Things I’ve Ever Been Through’: Dr Joanna Howe

One of the evening’s most moving moments came from Dr Joanna Howe, a prominent pro-life advocate who has championed Ruddick’s abortion law reform in NSW.

Howe revealed to Daily Declaration journalist Warwick Marsh that she experienced a miscarriage this year. While the pain is real, the tragedy has deepened her resolve to fight for unborn life.

“I’d never had a miscarriage before,” Howe said. “When we found out I was pregnant, I was so excited, and to lose our baby was one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through.”

The loss was compounded by her acute awareness of what was happening — knowledge born from her advocacy work.

“As my body was contracting and the little baby was coming out, I was very acutely aware that that is the first trimester abortion method — women take chemical pills that actually cause that intentionally,” she explained. “And so that was very distressing and heartbreaking to me as well.”

Yet Howe has channelled her grief into mission. She described her work as a family calling, undertaken with her husband and five children, despite the attacks from media and activists who “make up lies” about her.

“Even when it’s very hard and when the media attacks you,” Howe said, “that is all for the glory of God and also for saving these babies.”

A Movement, Not a Moment

James Howe, Dr Joanna’s husband, reflected on what makes this rally different from past pro-life gatherings. The crowd was not just large — it was sustained and growing.

“One thing that is really beautiful to see is, a few years in, people are still coming — not only coming but it’s actually getting bigger,” he said.

“That’s what really gives you heart because a little flash in the pan is great, but in order to really create change you have to have commitment, people who are dedicated and willing to keep coming over the long term. And I think that’s what we’re starting to see happen in Australia.”

Standing for the Voiceless

CitizenGO’s Chris Yates encouraged rally-goers who feel isolated in their pro-life convictions.

“It’s so heartening to see how many people agree with us,” Yates said.

“I think the media and the agenda of those who are secularists can tempt us to think that we’re a fringe, that no one agrees with us. Even though it’s as obvious as the nose on my face that a baby in the womb is a person — a person whom God loves and created, and who God has a purpose and a plan for.”

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Roy Morgan polling: Even 51% of Greens voters support the bill to ban the practice of sex-selective abortion in NSW.

Support by party affiliation:

✅ One Nation – 69%
✅ Liberal-National – 66%
✅ Independents – 63%
✅ Labor – 61%
✅ Greens – 51%

More details in the video… pic.twitter.com/SdMBNm8bEc

— John Ruddick MLC – Libertarian (@JohnRuddick2) June 5, 2026

Dr Melissa Lai, president of Pro-Life Health Professionals Australia, grounded the argument in universal principle: “Every woman was once a girl. Every girl was once a baby. Every baby begins their life in the womb.”

She called on Australians to protect girls from conception: “Population surveys show that all Australians agree that it is unacceptable to terminate a baby simply because she is a girl, and we must stand to build a country that protects women, and protects them from when their life begins in the womb.”

Every Life Matters: Ps Joel Chelliah, President of Australian Christian Churches

Genesis 1:27 declares that both “male and female” are equally “created… in the image of God.” This fundamental truth — that each person, from conception, bears God’s image — forms the conscience of the pro-life movement.

Joel Chelliah, president of Australian Christian Churches, articulated this conviction plainly: “As Christians, we cannot be silent and just sit by and watch innocent and vulnerable babies be murdered.

“Every child is created in the image of God. Every child has dignity. Every child has value. Every life matters — whether the child is wanted or unwanted and whether the child is male or female.”

The Bill’s Success: Uncertain

Ruddick’s bill is scheduled to be debated in the NSW Upper House this week. The vote will reveal whether parliamentarians truly hold to the principle of equal dignity they publicly espouse.

With the voting intention of some Upper House members remaining unknown, whether the bill will pass is unclear.

But for those gathered on Parliament House steps on Tuesday evening, the message was unambiguous: the time for silence has passed. Every girl’s life matters.

Warwick Marsh, reporting for The Daily Declaration, captured the evening’s spirit succinctly: “It is just incredible to experience the passion, the love from older people, younger people, from politicians, from Dr Jo herself and her beautiful husband.

“We couldn’t be here tonight without you [our supporters at the Canberra Declaration and The Daily Declaration]. We couldn’t be telling the world about this incredible protest, this incredible stand for life here outside Parliament House in Sydney.”

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Image via Facebook/Dr Joanna Howe.