Former leader of the National Party Barnaby Joyce has jumped in to defend Coalition senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s anti-abortion stance, and really, are we surprised??
ICYMI, Price told The Sydney Morning Herald that she wasn’t able to support terminations past the first trimester, likening it to “infanticide” and saying “our aim should always be on maintaining life”.
Abortion is decriminalised in all states and territories in Australia, with Western Australia being the last to change its laws in March 2024. However, Price’s comments have sparked a flurry of conversation around abortion rights, putting it back on the agenda for the upcoming Queensland election.
“When it comes to the lives of anybody, including unborn children, these are issues we as leaders need to make sure we are thoroughly… debating in order to make decisions,” Price said.
The anti-abortion rhetoric comes after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022, leading to a terrifying rollback of abortion rights in more than a dozen states.
Despite the fact that I don’t ever want to hear what comes out of Joyce’s mouth, he has now backed Price’s statements and described her as an “absolute conviction politician”.
“She could have fobbed you off and said ‘no comment’,” Joyce told the SMH in response to Price’s comments. “It shows she is an absolute conviction politician. She does things because she believes they are right. If people thought she just did things because they are populist, that’s not the case.”
Joyce also disagreed with his party leader, David Littleproud and Liberal MPs Sussan Ley and Jane Hume, who believe abortion is a state issue rather than a federal issue.
Joyce told the SMH that he had previously debated connected issues in parliament, such as drug access and rights of territories. He noted that the federal scheme Medicare also partly funds abortion.
Littleproud said that Price hadn’t meant to stir up controversy with her abortion comments on Wednesday.
“She was asked in a forum what her personal beliefs were. She didn’t start this and didn’t want it to be on the national debate. And so this wasn’t something that Jacinta went out and initiated with malicious intent,” Littleproud said on 2GB.
Littleproud reiterated that he supports abortion access, saying he believes “in the woman’s right to choose”.
However, he had to add another comment to toe the line neatly and encourage women to listen to men like himself, when deciding what to do with their bodies.
“But as a society, I think we should do everything we can to encourage people to go full term and to give those kids to loving families. I’m fortunate enough to have [an adopted] brother that I wouldn’t have otherwise,” he added.
According to the SMH, Price told her colleagues that her anti-abortion remarks were misrepresented.
There has been a renewed conservative push to change abortion laws in both South Australia and Queensland. KAP leader Robbie Katter previously revealed party plans to introduce a private member’s bill to repeal current abortion laws in Queensland, which kicked the floodgates open.
The Queensland 2024 State General Election is taking place Saturday 26 October, 2024, and while the LNP has been polling ahead of Labor, this abortion controversy could shake things up. A Queensland Labor campaign official who has chosen to remain anonymous, told the SMH the Labor party is planning on creating social media graphics using Price’s abortion comments as a final push for votes.
“People are talking about it at polling booths because they’ve seen it on TikTok and other social platforms, but also on traditional media. It’s everywhere,” the official said.
It’s a topic that many people — especially young women — are passionate about, but will it be enough to sway voters? Looks like we’ll find out this Saturday.
Lead image: Getty
The post Barnaby Joyce Outs Himself As The Lone Defender Of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s Anti-Abortion Stance appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
