Inside One Nation's eye-opening anti-abortion policies, from time limits to mandatory counselling sessions for women - as Barnaby Joyce admits stance could devastate party's vote

By CAITLIN POWELL - NEWS REPORTER Published: 10:50, 6 June 2026 | Updated: 10:50, 6 June 2026 Pauline Hanson's One Nation has unveiled its plans to roll back Australia's existing abortion laws, proposing that women undergo mandatory counselling sessions before a termination and slashing time limits for abortions. The party states on its website it will 'seek every opportunity to roll back brutal and extreme abortion law so that both unborn babies and pregnant women will have a level of legal and medical protection once again'. In particular, One Nation has taken aim at late-term and sex-selective abortions, as well as situations where babies are 'born alive' after abortion attempts and not treated.  The party has called for a ban on the use of aborted baby organs - which one expert says does not happen - and to strengthen doctors' rights to refuse to perform abortions on moral or religious grounds.  On Tuesday, One Nation's Barnaby Joyce compared abortion to the hypothetical killing of toddlers based on sex while speaking at an anti-abortion event in Sydney.  '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,' Joyce said. 'Yet, for some unknown reason, if they're in utero, it's OK.' As the party surges in the polls - with a Redbridge poll showing One Nation has a stronger primary vote than Labor - Joyce admitted that his pro-life stance was not popular but based on his convictions. One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce spoke at an anti-abortion rally in Sydney on Tuesday and admitted that his stance was not popular  As the party rides high in the polls, One Nation has said it will seek every opportunity to roll back 'brutal and extreme' abortion laws (pictured, Pauline Hanson with Joyce) 'Politically, does this make you popular? No, you'd probably lose half your votes every time you do it.  'But you know why you do it because that's the right thing to do,' he said.  However, two leading experts in reproductive health have challenged the core claims that underpin the party's abortion policies.  The rally Joyce was attending was in favour of the Abortion Law Reform Amendment (Sex Selection Prohibition) Bill 2026, introduced by NSW Libertarian MP John Ruddick. It has received backing from the Catholic Diocese of Wollongong and prominent activist Joanne Howe.  While One Nation has not confirmed its position on the specific bill, its policies, and Mr Joyce's remarks, strongly suggest it would support a ban on sex‑selective abortion. The proposed legislation draws partly on a study by Edith Cowan University, which found indirect indications that some migrant communities prefer baby boys.  However, the researchers cautioned that their findings did not prove sex-selective abortion, stating the data 'does not establish causality'. He was supporting a bill by NSW Libertarian MP John Ruddick (pictured) to stop 'abortions performed for the purpose of sex selection' despite it already being prohibited Pictured, Joyce attending the anti-abortion protest in Sydney Existing NSW Health policy already prohibits abortion being performed solely for sex selection, with a 2020 review finding such cases are rare. Of nearly 16,000 terminations between October 2019 and September 2020, only 13 patients indicated sex selection as the sole reason.  The review stated '10 are likely to be reporting errors' as the pregnancies were under nine weeks and a baby's sex cannot be reliably determined before 10 weeks. In its policy, One Nation has called for state and territory governments to reduce the gestational limit for abortions. 'Current legislation in some states allows the abortion of an unborn child up until the day of birth,' it reads. However, apart from ACT where there is no specification, every other state and territory has a limit on when an abortion procedure can be requested, typically between 16 and 24 weeks gestation, unless in an emergency. Dr Erica Millar, a senior lecturer on reproduction at La Trobe University, said several of One Nation's other positions are based on incorrect assumptions, including its call for a ban on the use of organs from aborted babies.  'That just doesn't happen,' Dr Millar told the Daily Mail.  'Maybe they are thinking about stem cell research, but even then, I don't think it happens with terminated foetuses,' she said.  One Nation has proposed restoring doctors' 'full right' to object to abortions.  But Dr Millar said this right already exists under Australian law, with doctors able to object to abortions as long as they refer patients to another provider.  Dr Erica Millar, an author and senior lecturer at LaTrobe University on reproduction, unpacked the incorrect claims and misinformation in One Nation's policies She also criticised the party's call for mandatory counselling for abortion patients.  'There's this idea that women don't know what they're doing so they need to be counselled, (it is) this idea of gendered vulnerability,' Dr Millar said. 'There's also this assumption that abortion is inherently bad for women, and there's no evidence for that. None of these strategies are new. 'They're just borrowing them from the US playbook.' Dr Millar also rejected One Nation's claims that abortion procedures only offer anaesthetic to the pregnant mother and not to the baby.  'The idea of foetal pain is really contested. Most abortions happen in the first trimester, which is 12 weeks, and foetuses don't feel pain at that gestation,' she said. 'But even if the pregnant person is having anesthetic, it goes to the foetus.  'Think about all those campaigns about how you're not meant to drink alcohol when you're pregnant, because it goes to the foetus. It's the same with anaesthetic so there's a double fiction there.' Dr Prudence Flowers, a senior lecturer in US history at Flinders University, said One Nation's approach stands out in the Australian political landscape One Nation has also called for babies 'born alive' during abortions to receive medical care. Dr Millar said this claim misrepresents medical reality. 'There's this simplified narrative that this baby is being born alive and left to die, and it's not true,' she said. 'It's possible to get a surgical abortion to 24 weeks, and there's no possibility in those instances of anything approximating a viable baby. 'With some late abortions, the baby's given an injection into its heart, and it ceases that activity, so it dies, and then the labour is induced.' She said in very rare cases, there may be signs of life such as the pulsation of the umbilical cord or a gasping of air, but it is not the same as being 'alive'.  'This 'born alive narrative' assumes that these babies have a chance of living, and that (they're) like any other baby that's born... and there's a lot of problems with that,' Dr Millar added.  'It's not the same to say they're born alive as saying there are signs of life. It's two different things.' Dr Prudence Flowers, a senior lecturer in US history at Flinders University, said One Nation's approach stands out in Australia's political landscape. 'The major parties treat abortion as a matter for conscience votes and in this context, One Nation's abortion policies are strikingly different,' she told the Daily Mail. 'They offer a much more ideologically conservative approach to abortion than has been the norm in Australian politics in the 21st century. 'One Nation's heavy focus on abortions performed later in pregnancy and on sex-selective abortions are examples directly from the US playbook.  'Australian opponents of abortion openly look to the US as a source of inspiration and are particularly inspired by President Donald Trump.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.