Federal MP fights for babies left to die

01 Jul 2021

By Contributor

By Vince Connelly MP

Stirling Federal MP Vince Connelly has this week written to The Record about the Children Born Alive Protection Bill, and is pushing for greater protections for babies left to die after surviving abortion attempts. Photo: David Foote-AUSPIC/DPS.

When I nominated to serve as a Federal MP, I did so because I wanted to do as much good for as many people as possible.

I wasn’t there for the birth of my first child. I was on military operations overseas, so I was listening on the end of a sat phone when the cord was cut.

But I was there for the birth of the other two.

I’m sure all parents can attest to the miracle of welcoming their children into the world. Sure, they are tiny and slimy, but they are our newest little people.

I was shocked to hear about the deaths of hundreds of babies after surviving an unsuccessful abortion attempt, which has led me to championing calls for greater medical care for these babies.

Staggeringly, such births and subsequent deaths occur frequently. In Western Australia, there were 27 cases between 1999 and 2016.

Queensland recorded 204 live births resulting from failed terminations between 2005 and 2015.

In Victoria, there were 33 live births – an incredible 10 per cent of 310 abortions in 2016 alone.

New South Wales is the only State or Territory to have established guidelines for the care of babies born following an abortion attempt. Others are not even required to keep or report relevant statistics.

A patient from Texas holds a sonogram that she received at the Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport on 13 February 2020. Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law a “heart beat” measure May 19, 2021, that would prohibit abortions as early as six weeks. Photo: CNS/Lila Engelbrecht.

However, the Federal Government may well be able to legislate in this regard.

Nationals MP George Christensen has also been campaigning on this issue and has established the draft Human Rights (Children Born Alive Protection) Bill 2021.

The bill is not likely to be successful until there is sufficient internal government and public lobbying.

Since speaking up in support of this draft Bill, I have garnered the support of federal colleagues and the wider community who, like you and I, believe in the importance of doing the right thing.

It’s time for us to take the next step.

Help me give a voice to the voiceless by signing and sharing my petition to continue pushing for greater rights and medical care for babies born alive.

I came to Parliament to do good.

Supporting lower taxes is easy. Supporting a challenging conversation like this is difficult.

But if we truly want to do good things, this starts with doing the right things.

And supporting the rights to medical care of tiny babies is unequivocally the right thing to do.