Nurses rally as Katter attempts to reopen abortion debate
Nurses and midwives have rallied as an attempt by Katter’s Australian Party to dodge a debate ban and revive abortion access discussion was shot down in state parliament.
Source: AAP
Nurses descended on state parliament in a showdown over an abortion pill as Katter’s Australian Party reopened debate over the controversial topic.
Conservative MP Robbie Katter has caused uproar after indicating he would on Tuesday move to block a healthcare reform that would stop more nurses and midwives using abortion medication like MS-2 Step.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has put a gag on abortion debate at state parliament after termination of pregnancy laws became a major 2024 election issue.
However, Katter’s disallowance motion does not mention abortion, instead targeting extended practice authorities (EPAs) updates for healthcare workers.
The updates include the state’s Medicines and Poisons framework that allows more nurses and midwives to prescribe and administer medications, including the MS-2 Step early-termination pill.
Nurses and midwives joined pro-choice supporters on Tuesday afternoon to rally outside state parliament in Brisbane, accusing Mr Katter of trying to strip women of practical access to care.
You might like
“Queensland women need and deserve greater access to free, quality reproductive health care and services including medical termination pill MS- 2-Step,” Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union secretary Sarah Beaman said.
“This is particularly important in regional and remote areas where access to these services can be limited or problematic.”
Currently, only nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives can prescribe MS-2 Step statewide.
The nurses union’s assistant secretary midwifery, Fridae King, said reproductive health care was ”a right, not a privilege”, warning some women faced driving more than 300 kilometres for services.
”To those politicians who object, I say ‘Hands Off Our Healthcare; – women’s health is not a bargaining chip, it is a fundamental right,” she said.
The disallowance motion comes just months after LNP MP Nigel Dalton crossed the floor to vote with the Katter party in a bid to overturn the premier’s abortion law debate gag.
Stay informed, daily
Health Minister Tim Nicholls on Tuesday insisted the Liberal National Party government would not change Queensland’s termination of pregnancy laws.
He accused the Labor opposition of using the Katter party motion to launch a scare campaign over potential abortion reforms under the LNP.
”Queenslanders have had enough of Labor’s scare campaigns, enough of their mistruths and enough of their failed playbook,” Mr Nicholls told parliament.
”There have been, and there will be, no changes to termination of pregnancy laws.”
The state opposition said the abortion issue had driven a wedge through the LNP government “as much as the premier wants it to go away”.
“Something’s going to give. There’s just too many cracks in this government,” deputy opposition leader Cameron Dick said.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce vowed to ‘keep the fire burning’ for the anti-abortion cause. Photo: AAP
Meanwhile, backbench MP Barnaby Joyce has fronted an anti-abortion rally with a fiery warning to other politicians.
Joyce said his pro-life stance was one of conviction rather than of political opportunism, drawing massive cheers from a crowd of about 2000 people outside the NSW parliament on a chilly Sydney evening.
“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.
Joyce, who left the Nationals in late 2025 as the far-right One Nation’s polling rise gathered pace, argued that galvanising support around the pro-life cause could change the political landscape.
One Nation has leapfrogged Labor to become the political party with the highest primary vote, according to a Redbridge poll this week.
-with AAP
Want to see more stories from InDaily Qld in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily Qld as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily Qld". That's it.
