Victorian Labor puts reproductive rights on election agenda as it warns One Nation could try to wind back abortion access

Victoria’s deputy premier, Gabrielle Williams (centre), will announce a rollout of new portable ultrasound machines, which will make it easier for women to access medical abortion. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins/AAP View image in fullscreen Victoria’s deputy premier, Gabrielle Williams (centre), will announce a rollout of new portable ultrasound machines, which will make it easier for women to access medical abortion. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins/AAP Victorian Labor puts reproductive rights on election agenda as it warns One Nation could try to wind back abortion access Exclusive: ‘We don’t want to see any winding back of women’s rights,’ health minister says ahead of state election Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Victorian Labor government is announcing new measures to improve access to medical abortion, as it puts reproductive rights on the election agenda and claims One Nation could use abortion as a negotiating chip with the Coalition in the event of a hung parliament. On Thursday, the deputy premier and minister for women, Gabrielle Williams, and the health minister, Ingrid Stitt, will announce a rollout of new portable ultrasound machines for the state’s 20 sexual and reproductive health hubs. The machines, costing $480,000, will help confirm early pregnancy sooner, making it easier for women, particularly in regional Victoria, to access medical abortion – a drug-induced termination that can be carried out up to nine weeks’ gestation. “It means women, particularly in regional Victoria, will be more likely to be scanned within that nine-week window for medical abortion, rather than having to wait or travel long distances to get a scan, and by then potentially only have surgical abortion options available for them,” Stitt said. Abortion was decriminalised in Victoria in 2008, with women able to obtain a termination during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, and later if they obtain the agreement of two doctors. Stitt said since then Labor had been working to make public abortion care safer – via the introduction of safe access zones around clinics in 2015 – and more accessible, including through the mobile women’s health clinic and virtual women’s health clinic. The latter reported nearly 60% of its appointments in its first year supported medical abortion. “We don’t want to see any winding back of women’s rights to choose or their access to safe care across the state,” Stitt said. “We’re proud of the investments that we’ve made, and we will be fighting hard to protect them in the election campaign.” Earlier this month, the Victorian opposition leader, Jess Wilson, emphatically ruled out any changes to the state’s abortion laws under a Coalition government. It followed the release of a video by a market research company linked to Labor, which claimed that Wilson had “handpicked Liberal candidates who want abortion banned” and stated that One Nation’s Victorian leader, Warren Pickering, wanted to make abortion a crime. View image in fullscreen Warren Pickering. The One Nation Victoria leader said in 2024 that the state’s abortion laws were ‘some of the most draconian on the planet’. Photograph: James Ross/AAP “Victorians can’t risk a Liberal One Nation government and the polls show the Liberals can’t govern without One Nation,” the video said. Wilson told the Age: “Abortion law will not change under a Liberal and Nationals government. Full stop.” She repeated the comments in a video with the Herald Sun at the weekend. But the deputy premier said Wilson “might not be the one calling the shots”, given current polling suggested the Coalition was short of an outright majority. “With the way the polling is lining up, this is potentially a situation where One Nation aren’t a minor partner – they’re potentially an equal partner – so her ability to push back on that might be restricted,” Williams said. One Nation’s national platform pledges to “seek every opportunity to roll back brutal and extreme abortion law”. The federal leader, Pauline Hanson, has said she was not against abortion in the first trimester, a position that has not been reflected in the party’s formal policy. Last week, its New South Wales leader Mark Newman attended a rally alongside the controversial campaigner Joanna Howe, which was calling for the NSW parliament to restrict abortion access. At the rally he said One Nation “want to stop” abortion and that if elected, would ensure there was a “right to life … that babies live”. He later said One Nation does not advocate for an outright ban on abortion and had been speaking about late-term abortions and terminations for sex selection. Barnaby Joyce appeared at a June event that was organised by Howe, who also campaigned in the lead-up to the Queensland and South Australian state elections. In 2024, Pickering joined pro-life activists at a “March for Babies” in Melbourne and posted on Facebook that Victoria’s abortion laws were “some of the most draconian on the planet”. Williams said: “It’s not unreasonable to be asking at what point the Liberal National Coalition are prepared to walk away from One Nation if this is the position they are taking to the election – as their counterparts have in other states.” The deputy premier denied Labor was conducting a scare campaign. “This is a genuine question being asked on the back of positions that are being expressed by One Nation around the country,” she said. “Where’s the line?” Explore more on these topics Victorian politics One Nation Health Victoria Labor party Liberal party Coalition news Share Reuse this content