One Nation's Barnaby Joyce to speak at anti-abortion protest in Sydney - as Pauline Hanson unveils bold plan to roll back access to safe terminations

By CAITLIN POWELL - NEWS REPORTER Published: 07:21, 2 June 2026 | Updated: 07:21, 2 June 2026 One Nation's Barnaby Joyce will speak at an anti-abortion protest in the latest move by the party to roll back Australians' right to terminations.  The rally, backed by the Catholic Diocese of Wollongong and anti-abortion spokeswoman Joanne Howe, will be held outside NSW Parliament on Tuesday. Mr Joyce's team told the Daily Mail he would attend for 'five minutes', but later confirmed he would speak at the event. The MP's support is unsurprising given One Nation's strong anti-abortion stance. The party's website says 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'. It claims 'current legislation in some states allows the abortion of an unborn child up until the day of birth'.  However, non-profit reproductive healthcare provider MSI Australia says every state and territory imposes limits on when an abortion can occur, except in certain emergency circumstances.  The protest has been organised by NSW Libertarian MP John Ruddick, who has proposed the Abortion Law Reform Amendment (Sex Selection Prohibition) Bill 2026. One Nation (pictured leader Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce) has a strong anti-abortion stance, that plans to roll back laws in Australia He will speak alongside anti-abortion campaigner Joanna Howe (pictured L-R with One Nation MPs Rebecca Hewett and Chantelle Thomas at a rally in Adelaide in May) The legislation aims to stop 'abortions performed for the purpose of sex selection', with Mr Ruddick claiming a foetus could be aborted based on gender. However, a NSW Health review in 2020 found 'terminations of pregnancy are rarely performed for the sole purpose of sex selection'. Of the 15,973 terminations between October 1, 2019, and September 30, 2020, 13 patients indicated that they were for the sole purpose of sex selection. Yet the review found this figure was smaller, stating '10 are likely to be reporting errors' as pregnancies were under nine weeks. A baby's sex cannot be reliably determined before 10 weeks.  Ruddick's bill, due to be debated in the NSW Legislative Council on Wednesday, would impose penalties of up to five years' jail for health professionals who carry out the procedure on 'sex selection' grounds.  The issue entered mainstream debate after a study by Edith Cowan University published last year found indirect evidence that some migrant communities prefer boys, after analysing data from 1994 to 2015, but did not establish causation.  Similar legislation has been introduced in the United States, where abortion access has been rolled back in recent years.  One Nation is not the only political party pushing to restrict abortion access. The event is organised by NSW Libertarian MP John Ruddick (pictured), who has proposed a bill to the NSW Legislative Council  to stop 'sex selection' abortions Katter Party MP Robbie Katter moved a disallowance motion on Tuesday to overturn regulations expanding access to the abortion drug MS-2 Step. The measure allows trained nurses and midwives to prescribe and supply MS-2 Step for early-stage medical abortions within their scope of practice. If successful, the move would have reduced access for rural and regional patients in Queensland.  South Australian upper house MP Sarah Game has also reintroduced a bill to further limit access to an abortion. It would remove mental health grounds for abortion after 24 weeks and six days, except where a person's life is at risk.  Victoria-based gender equity group Fair Agenda said migrant and refugee women were most likely to face suspicion if such laws were introduced in Australia.  'A law like this risks amplifying racism and discrimination in the health system, turning the doctor's office into a place of profiling,' the group wrote on social media.  'In the US, where these bans already exist, studies found no change in birth ratios.  'They just subjected women, especially those of Asian backgrounds, to suspicion and profiling.' 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. 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