Queensland rejects bill that would protect babies born alive after an abortion

Image Credit: Carolyn Christine via Unsplash

A bill in Queensland, Australia, that would see that protection be given to babies born alive after an attempted abortion, has been rejected.

Cherish Life, a pro-life organisation based in Queensland, released a statement this week to announce that the Babies Born Alive Bill was “tragically” rejected.

Earlier this year, Cherish Life announced the proposal for the Babies Born Alive bill by Katter’s Australian Party, which would allow for babies born alive after an abortion, to “be treated no differently to any other child born in Queensland”, without having any impact on access to the abortion services “as the abortion has already occurred”. 

They also particularly drew attention to the heartbreaking cases of babies born alive after an attempted abortion, such as Jessica Jane who was left to die for 80 minutes on a metal plate.

The committee report for the Babies Born Alive bill had recommended to not pass the bill with the following statement.

‘We find submissions that the Bill has the potential to negatively affect the availability of legal termination services persuasive. Some health practitioners may be reluctant to provide these health services [abortions] because of the uncertainty created by imposing additional and unnecessary legal obligations on their existing duty of care. Creating further legal obligations around later gestation termination of pregnancy [abortions] is likely to disproportionately impact women for whom access to health services is already challenging, including Aboriginal women and Torres Strait Islander women, and women in rural and remote areas.’

“In this section alone the ambiguity is alarming, demonstrating the desperate lack of real empirical evidence” said Cherish Life in their statement.

“Here is the real issue - this report confirms once again, in Queensland we have different guidelines and laws based on whether a child is wanted or unwanted,” they continued.  

“In Queensland we discriminate against unwanted children, inside the womb with abortions and the ‘Babies Born Alive’ Bills unveil that we also discriminate against unwanted babies outside of the womb. “Wantedness” should not determine the type of healthcare a baby receives. In Queensland, any child regardless of if they are wanted or not, should be loved and cherished.”

“At Cherish Life we will never stop defending human life.”

Sandra Parda of the Life Institute commented saying “it is heartbreaking that Queensland have chosen to reject a vital bill that would ensure that babies are treated with care and dignity if they survive an abortion attempt. We cannot ignore the humanity of the child, especially when they survive such a cruel attempt on their little lives, and we as a society must endeavour to ensure that each child is treated with equal care.”