Australian conservatives claim babies are sometimes ‘born alive’ after abortions. What is the truth?
Some religious groups and conservative politicians in Australia claim that babies after abortions are “born alive” and left alone to die.
But experts warn that the “born alive” campaigns are riddled with misinformation, use misleading statistics and could jeopardise women’s access to abortions.
A proposed federal bill to protect live births went to a parliamentary inquiry, which found there was no basis for it. A motion in the federal Senate last week to note that babies are born alive after abortions was defeated.
Meanwhile, a Queensland inquiry into proposed legislation is underway. Last week, a recent emotional speech by Louise Adsett of the Australian Christian Lobby about “unwanted babies” being left in “witch hats” received widespread media attention.
Queensland Health Minister Shannon Fentiman says misinformation in the debate can be inflammatory and painful for survivors.
Here’s what you need to know.
Are babies ever born alive after an abortion?
Dozens of health experts and major organizations have asked about the rare cases in which a non-viable baby is born alive.
The Royal Australia and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (Ranzcog) told a Queensland inquiry it was an “unusual” scenario.
Ranzcog says only 1% of abortions are performed after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Typically, an injection is used to ensure the fetus is dead.
“In rare cases, parents choose not to kill a fetus because they want to hold their (nonviable) baby while it dies,” Ranzcog says.
The baby, who has no chance of survival, is kept as comfortable as possible during the process.
The “born alive” campaign has used various statistics to claim that this happens hundreds of times a year. However, there are not even robust national statistics on the number of abortions per year (one estimate is about 88,000). The ACL claims that such babies are fully developed and have beating hearts, but are “set aside and left to die,” a claim that has been repeatedly debunked by health care professionals.
The Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union says abortions are performed after 20 weeks of pregnancy if “the foetus has late-diagnosed fatal or significant abnormalities, genetic disorders, severe growth restriction or risks to the health of the mother, where continuing the pregnancy and/or birth would pose a significant threat to the mother and the foetus would have no chance of survival”.
The bill “projects an unnecessary narrative about a rare scenario and places unnecessary pressure and emotional manipulation on women, pregnant women and their families,” the union said.
What is the legislation about?
Supporters of live birth legislation want it made clear that any child born after an abortion has the same duty of care as any other child. This raises the risk that health care providers will feel pressured to resuscitate a baby who will never live.
In the US, there are a number of state laws that include the right to live birth, and a federal attempt to impose fines and prison sentences on anyone who does not try to save a baby, even if it is not viable.
Former federal MP George Christensen first proposed a live birth bill in 2021 to allow doctors to “provide medical care, treatment and statistics on children born alive as a result of abortions”. That bill lapsed, but was reintroduced in 2022 by Liberal Party Senator Alex Antic and National Party Senator Matt Canavan, and sent to an inquiry.
The inquiry found that there was no legal, ethical or medical basis to support the bill, nor were there any recommendations for the government to act on.
A Queensland bill to “remove any doubt that babies born in these circumstances are entitled to the same level of medical care and attention as a baby born otherwise” is being considered and a report is expected to be submitted to the government in September.
Before the recent Northern Territory elections, the new leader of the Country Liberal Party, Lia Finocchiaro, said the party would consider supporting a similar bill. ACL and Pro-Life Victoria distributed flyers During the campaign, the CLP said it supported live birth legislation.
The Sphere Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Coalition says the proposed legislation jeopardizes the right to access termination services and “demonstrates a flawed and inaccurate understanding of second-trimester abortion care and the complexities of fetal viability.”
The bill “could prevent health care providers from performing late-stage abortions for fear of prosecution in the extremely rare event a baby is born alive,” the filing said.
In its statement, the Royal Women’s Hospital said the anti-abortion campaigners’ strategy was to “erod rights through multiple pieces of small legislation”.
“These are aimed at restricting the provision of and access to services. We believe that this bill can be understood as such a strategy,” it says.
Western Australia’s Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson told parliament that invasive medical care, such as attempting to resuscitate a newborn who will not survive, would deprive parents of “time with their baby”.
Do doctors have a duty of care after a dismissal?
“All practitioners are bound by a duty of care that outlines when and how they may perform their duties in such a scenario,” Sphere said.
Ranzcog says any additional legislation is “completely unnecessary”. He argues that the duty of care also applies to babies born alive “regardless of whether this occurs after an abortion or otherwise”.
“Further legal regulation will be confusing and unhelpful,” the report said, and would create a law that treats abortion differently from other medical procedures.
The born alive lobby claims that more medical intervention could save those aborted babies. The explanatory memorandum to the Queensland bill claims that a 2023 study of 29 babies born at 22 weeks had a survival rate of 82.8%.
The QNMU says the study “excludes newborns with major congenital abnormalities.” The study found that all newborns born at 22 weeks underwent intensive, invasive medical interventions, with a third dying before the age of 18 months, and of those who survived, 38.9 percent had moderate or severe neurodevelopmental disorders, the union said.
Are babies left alone for hours?
A few anecdotes do the heavy lifting for the claim that babies are born alive and left alone for hours. The 1998 case of “Jessica Jane” is often used.
According to the coroner’s report, a fetus was unexpectedly born alive after an abortion at a small hospital in Darwin. There was confusion about the gestational age. The attending nurse did not know what to do and the attending physician did not help her. The nurse wrapped the baby in a “warm blanket” and checked on him constantly. But the coroner was told that the chance of survival in any case would be “extremely small”. He died 80 minutes later.
The coroner recommended that protocols be put in place to prevent this rare event from happening again.
Another case that is often mentioned is “Xanthe”. A Queensland couple decided to have an abortion after discovering their daughter had Down syndrome. Xanthe was born alive. The father said they were not informed and wanted to be with her when she died. The case was reportedly investigated by the ombudsman, who declined to provide an update.
Then there is Adsett, a midwife who appeared on behalf of the ACL at the Queensland inquiry. Adsett says she is a “conscientious objector when it comes to providing care to women who abort their babies”, but says she makes herself available to hold babies afterwards. She says parents don’t want to see or hold them and that they are “sometimes born in witches’ hats or kidney bowls”. She says she was either on duty or her colleagues told her about such occasions.
Queensland Health Minister Fentiman says: “All babies born with signs of life are treated with the same dignity, respect and access to health care as any other person in Queensland.”
Some of the comments in the debate were inflammatory, Fentiman says, and could further hurt parents already grieving the loss of a child.
“I ask those responsible to take a moment to consider the pain you are causing.”