Nationals senator Matt Canavan refuses to pull ‘born alive’ abortion bill, accuses Greens of censorship

A Nationals senator has accused the Greens of trying to “censor and silence debate” following its calls to pull his controversial abortion bill.

Nationals senator Matt Canavan says he won’t pull his controversial ‘babies born alive’ Bill, and has lashed the Greens for attempting to “censor and silence debate”.

Next Tuesday, the Greens will move for the Bill to force medical professionals to save ‘babies born alive’ as a result of abortions, to be discharged and removed from further debate and a potential vote in the Senate.

However Senator Canavan, who alongside Liberal senator Alex Antic is sponsoring the Bill, is resisting the call and has accused the minor party of being scared of discussion.

“This is an attempt to censor and silence debate this country,” Senator Canavan said on Wednesday.

“My Bill doesn’t change abortion procedures, doesn’t restrict abortion procedures.

“It simply says that everybody, every Australian, deserves to have medical care appropriate to their circumstances. I will always defend that.”

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan accused the Greens of attempting to ‘censor and silence debate’. Picture: Dan Peled/NewsWire

Greens spokesperson for women Larissa Waters said the proposed legislation was a “thinly veiled attack on women’s rights to choose to terminate a pregnancy,” and said both major parties needed to come together to see it scrapped.

“If the two big parties genuinely believe that abortion is not a federal issue then they should vote to discharge this Bill from the notice paper, and the Greens will move for that early next week,” she said.

Greens Senator Larissa Waters called on both major parties should vote to discharge the Bill from further debate. Picture: NewsWire/ Martin Ollman

Legal experts have said this would have a “deleterious effect” on Australia’s human rights commitments, and could hamper a woman’s access to reproductive health.

Health experts also told a 2023 senate inquiry that it was rare for signs of life to be displayed following late term abortions after 20 weeks, and comprised about 1 per cent of abortions.

Any signs of life also “do not indicate the capacity to survive outside the uterus”.

Minister for Women Katy Gallagher has previously called on Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to intervene and call on the senators to scrap their “dangerous” Bill, stating it was a “test of his commitment to the rights of Australian women”.

Senator Canavan’s comments after the Liberal leader instructed Coalition members to remain disciplined against fuelling abortion debate on a federal level during a private meeting earlier this month.

MPs were told to should remain a state issue, and could risk the Coalition losing votes in inner-city seats and attacks from Labor.

However Senator Canavan confirmed on Wednesday Mr Dutton, who has publicly stated he is pro-choice, has not asked him to withdraw the Bill.

“We’ve got a great tradition in our party respecting each other’s views,” he said.

“I do respect other views, and I would never seek to remove a Greens Bill that took an opposite position than me on these issues.”

Originally published as Nationals senator Matt Canavan refuses to pull ‘born alive’ abortion bill, accuses Greens of censorship