This week, John Ruddick, a NSW state politician from the Libertarian Party, introduced abill that would criminalise medical practitioners for performing sex-selective abortion.
That is the practice of terminating a pregnancy based on the sex of the foetus.
While the NSW law does not word-for-word ban the practice, it does empower health authorities to ban it.
Here’s what you need to know.
Background
Abortion has been decriminalised in NSW since 2019, when Parliament voted to remove it from the state’s Crimes Act.
The law doesn't explicitly prohibit sex-selective abortions, but includes a section directing state health authorities to set guidelines that do.
Current NSW Health guidelines say practitioners “must not” perform an abortion over the foetus’ sex.
The 2019 law mandated the Government undertake a review of the practice in one year’s time.
In 2020, the Government published the review, concluding abortion was “rarely performed for the sole purpose of sex selection.”
It found 13 of the nearly 16,000 abortions (0.08%) performed after the law passed were for the “sole purpose of sex selection”.
However, it noted that 10 of these were likely “reporting errors” as they were performed before 10 weeks gestation, which is before a foetus’ sex can be determined.
“If these notifications are excluded, less than 0.02% [of] notifications indicated that they were performed for the sole purpose of sex selection,” it said.
Bill
Libertarian upper house politicianJohn Ruddick first introduced the bill in 2025. This week, it returned to Parliament for its second reading debate.
The bill is subject to a conscience vote, meaning politicians can make up their minds individually rather than deciding on a position as a party.
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If passed, it would make it an offence for medical practitioners to performabortions on the basis of sex selection.
Fines of up to $22,000 for individuals and $44,000 for organisations, and/or five years’ imprisonment, would apply.
On Tuesday evening, pro-life supporters staged a rally outsideNSW Parliament House ahead of the debate.
Among the attendees were anti-abortion activist Dr Joanna Howeand federal One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce.
Speaking during the debate on Wednesday, Liberal MP Rachel Merton said: “At its core, sex-selective abortion is a form of discrimination.”
“As legislators, we have a responsibility to ensure that our laws reflect our shared values and to address practices that undermine them,” she added.
“This law in NSW must be passed or otherwise we all accept that sex selection is appropriate. Girls are not as good as boys.” Federal One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce said in a Facebook post.
Response
On Wednesday morning, NSW Health Minister Ryan Park told ABC Radio Sydney he “won’t be supporting the bill,” adding ”there is no evidence that sex selection is occurring in NSW”.
“I don’t want to see abortion back into the criminal code,” Park said.
The Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said the proposal was “not grounded in evidence” and risked “shifting an essential component of women’s healthcare back towards criminalisation.”
What’s next?
The legislation is a private member'sbill, meaning it was introduced by anMP rather than the Government.
Debate must conclude before the bill can be put to a vote, which in practice means waiting until all MPswho wish to speak have done so.
A spokesperson for Ruddick confirmed he intends for debate tocontinue on the next scheduled day for private members' business, 24 June.
After that, and subject to any amendments, the bill could be put to a vote.
