Barnaby Joyce rallies anti-abortion activists ahead of tight NSW vote

What happened

Barnaby Joyce joined anti-abortion activists outside NSW parliament in Sydney and urged them to keep pressuring politicians, especially Nationals MPs, ahead of a vote on a bill to outlaw sex-selective terminations. The rally was led by Dr Joanna Howe, who said the four Nationals members in the NSW upper house were central to whether the bill passed.

The bill and the politics

The proposed law, introduced by Libertarian upper house member John Ruddick, is narrow: it would ban sex-selective abortion. But the rally made clear that supporters see it as only the beginning of a broader campaign. Howe said the movement planned to return each year with new bills, including a later push against late-term abortions.

Joyce framed the issue as a moral one, telling the crowd to keep pushing for people who, in his words, cannot speak for themselves. He also encouraged campaigners to target sitting politicians electorally, saying politicians fear losing their jobs.

Wider context

The article places the rally inside a larger effort to roll back abortion access after decriminalisation across Australia’s states and territories almost three years ago. A counter-protest nearby warned that small legal changes can be the start of a longer campaign, pointing to the US experience before Roe v Wade was overturned.

The vote is expected to be tight. No party has a majority in either house, and Labor, Liberal and National MPs have been given conscience votes. The article says the suspension of Labor minister Penny Sharpe makes the result even harder to predict.