Hastie, Joyce ignite late-term abortion fight over paid leave for stillbirth law

Four Coalition MPs have renewed a debate over “late-term abortions” in federal parliament, raising concern that laws guaranteeing paid leave for parents of stillborn children will be used by mothers whose pregnancies are terminated.

Outspoken MPs Andrew Hastie and Barnaby Joyce aired the issue during debate over “Baby Priya’s Bill” – a proposed amendment to existing laws that would ensure employers can’t cancel paid parental leave because a child is stillborn or dies.

Coalition employment spokesman Tim Wilson had on Tuesday said the opposition was supporting the amendment because it recognised the need for clear and compassionate arrangements for when families lost a baby.

“I am proud to support this reform and it is an important step to ensure compassion and dignity are afforded to grieving parents,” Wilson said. “That is a legacy of love and it is a gift to the whole Australian community.”

But the MPs, who also included Tony Pasin and Henry Pike, raised concerns that the government’s eligibility criteria included situations where there had been a medical abortion and a qualified practitioner confirmed the definition of a stillborn child was met.

Pasin, a conservative MP from South Australia, said it was “clear in the title of the leave”.

“Paid parental leave ... It should be available to people who wish to be parents, but for the grace of God, have not become parents through that incident or outcome,” he said.

“But it shouldn’t be available to people who don’t wish to be parents.”

Health Minister Mark Butler said the debate caused distress in the community. “To try to conflate the two things is, I think, a very cynical, deeply distressing political exercise,” he said on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing program.

“I haven’t heard a Coalition woman go into the chamber and make these arguments we’ve heard from Andrew Hastie and Barnaby Joyce and others. It’s all the men on the right wing of the Liberal and the National Party and I just say to them: enough, just stop it.”

Abortions late in pregnancy are rare – doctors say fewer than 1 per cent of terminations happen after 20 weeks – and they typically only happen for serious medical reasons.

These include genetic syndromes, late-diagnosed major fetal abnormalities, severe growth restrictions, or situations where continuing the pregnancy would severely harm the mother’s mental or physical health.

But late-term abortions have become a flashpoint in political debates over reproductive rights in the United States and Australia.

These were debated in the South Australian parliament and Queensland state election last year, which led then-opposition leader Peter Dutton to warn federal Coalition MPs against talking about the issue because it would cost votes.

The four Coalition MPs this week said they supported the intent of Baby Priya’s Bill but argued it should not apply to terminations.

Hastie said parliament was a place to express views of conscience, as he raised his reservations with the bill’s “unintended consequences”. “I note the sensitivity around this, but I do call upon the government to clarify that [Baby Priya’s Bill] does not apply to late-term abortions,” he said.

“It’s no secret that I’m opposed to late-term abortions,” Hastie said.

Joyce said the MPs had concerns because “it appeared that late-term abortions were encompassed in this”.

“I think we can have people born at 22 to 23 weeks and these people survive ... We believe we have a duty of care to stand in this parliament and stand up for those rights.”

One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson has previously accused the Albanese government of “funding the murder of healthy babies where Australian women can terminate a pregnancy up to the day before birth … and access to paid parental leave of up to $22,754”.

Conservative campaigners give the impression that fetuses terminated late in pregnancy are often viable, and call them “children born alive”.

However, doctors say that fetuses will be classified as “live births” if they exit the mother’s body with any sign of life – such as a limb twitch or pulsation of the umbilical cord – but this doesn’t mean they could survive outside the uterus.

Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth said the bill had used existing definitions – in the Fair Work Act and the Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 – so there was clarity and consistency about eligibility.

Under those laws, a child is considered stillborn if they weigh at least 400 grams at delivery or were carried to at least 20 weeks; they have not breathed since delivery; and their heart has not beaten since delivery.

According to a letter written on behalf of Women’s Minister Katy Gallagher earlier this year – which was cited as one of Joyce’s concerns – this can include circumstances where “the stillbirth was due to a medical termination, including an intentional abortion, provided the child has been certified by a qualified medical practitioner as having been delivered and the definition of a stillborn child is met”.

Rishworth said the bill had not created any new entitlements to parental leave.

“This bill only applies where there is a lack of clarity on what will happen to an employee’s leave if a child is stillborn or dies after birth,” she said.

“We are deeply disappointed that a very small minority have tried to hijack this bill and pretend it’s about something that it’s not. What this bill is about is giving certainty to grieving parents at the most difficult time of their life. It is a critical piece of legislation that should receive the support of the parliament.”

Current laws give parents of stillborn children access to government-funded parental leave, but there had been no requirement that employers do the same. The Senate is yet to vote on the bill.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.