Family First National Director and NSW Legislative Council candidate Lyle Shelton says that if elected to Parliament in March, he will seek to work with Libertarian MLC John Ruddick and other like-minded MPs to re-introduce legislation banning abortion for the purpose of sex selection.
Mr Shelton made the commitment after Mr Ruddick’s Abortion Law Reform Amendment (Sex Selection Prohibition) Bill was defeated 21–16 in the Legislative Council on Wednesday night.
“John Ruddick deserves enormous credit for having the courage to bring this issue before Parliament and force MPs to put their position on the record,” Mr Shelton said.
“If I am elected in March, I will seek to work with John and other like-minded MPs to bring this legislation back.
“Girls should not be killed in the womb simply because they are girls. This Parliament may have voted the legislation down, but that should not be the end of the matter.
“As voters consider the evidence, they have the opportunity in March to send pro-life candidates like me to Parliament so the issue can be revisited.”
Mr Shelton said claims that sex-selection abortion was not occurring in NSW needed to be considered alongside important Australian research published by Edith Cowan University in 2025.
The study examined more than 2.1 million births registered in NSW and Western Australia between 1994 and 2015.
Researchers found that while sex ratios among Australian-born mothers remained close to the expected natural range, ratios among some migrant populations were substantially more male-biased, particularly after previous daughters.
Among Indian-born mothers who already had two daughters, researchers recorded 132 boys for every 100 girls, while among Chinese-born mothers with two previous daughters the figure was 133 boys for every 100 girls. The natural ratio is generally about 105 boys for every 100 girls.
Lead researcher Dr Amanuel Gebremedhin said:
“The sex ratio at birth for Australian-born mothers remains fairly constant, and the markedly skewed sex ratio at birth among certain migrant communities almost certainly point to human intervention.”
The researchers described their findings as indirect evidence consistent with sex-selective abortion practices.
“This is serious Australian research based on more than two million births, including births in NSW,” Mr Shelton said.
“While population-level research cannot tell us what happened in an individual pregnancy, these striking imbalances cannot simply be dismissed.
“There should be nothing controversial about saying that an unborn girl has the same value as an unborn boy and that abortion should never be used as a means of choosing the sex of a child.
“John Ruddick has ensured Parliament has confronted this issue. If the people of NSW elect me to the Legislative Council in March, I intend to help ensure Parliament confronts it again.”
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