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Greens leader Larissa Waters has demanded several male backbench Coalition MPs, accused of conflating stillbirths and late-term abortions, withdraw from a debate on proposed leave entitlements.
Andrew Hastie, Tony Pasin, Henry Pike and Barnaby Joyce all used speeches in the federal parliament’s Federation Chamber on Wednesday to suggest new laws ensuring women who experience a stillbirth or neonatal death will retain access to maternity leave could have “unintended consequences”.
“Once again, we see a culture war and an anti-choice positioning from the far-right fringe who don’t give a damn about women’s rights in any other context, but are very concerned with what women can do with their own uteruses,” Waters said on Thursday.

“Perhaps they should keep their rosaries away from our ovaries,” remarked Greens leader Larissa Waters, as she criticized the “anti-choice stance” adopted by several backbench Coalition MPs. These MPs have raised concerns about the “unintended consequences” associated with Baby Priya’s Bill. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

Woman in green speaks into microphone, accompanied by woman holding a red binder.

The inspiration behind ‘Baby Priya’s Bill’ comes from the heart-wrenching story of a mother who, after informing her employer of her infant daughter Priya’s death at just 42 days old, faced the daunting task of planning an unexpected return to work while still mourning her child.
“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,” Pasin said.
Joyce said: “The day after a child is born, no matter what medical conditions or impairments that may be there, you have no right to interfere in their life. And therefore, the day before, we believe, is the same.”
But Health Minister Mark Butler has rejected the conflations, defending the definitions in the bill as “very clear” and noting a termination is “very different” to a stillbirth or neonatal death that occurs as a result of a “natural spontaneous event”.
“To try to conflate the two things is, I think, a very cynical, deeply distressing political exercise,” he told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing on Wednesday.

“I believe it is a commendable initiative, and Baby Priya’s Bill warrants our endorsement for that reason,” Waters stated. “While acknowledging the complexities involved, I urge the government to confirm that it does not pertain to late-term abortions.”

“How often, when we’re talking about constraining women’s rights, constraining women’s support through these incredibly important and at times distressing events in their life, it’s men leading the charge? I haven’t heard a Coalition woman go into the chamber and make these arguments,” Butler said.
Liberal senator Jane Hume said she hadn’t heard her colleagues’ contributions delivered in the chamber, but cautioned against the debate being turned into “a political football”.
An Opposition spokesperson told SBS News that while “members of the Liberal and National parties have always had the right to express a view … the Coalition has agreed to the passage of this bill”.
“The bill has gone through its usual processes and had strong support from the party room.”
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