The 2022 news that the US Supreme Court had overturned Roe v Wade and ended the constitutional right to abortion sent shockwaves around the world.

For Australian opponents of abortion who had long looked to the US for leadership and inspiration, it prompted rejoicing.

As a leader of Cherish Life Queensland put it, “if the USA can do it, with God’s help, so can we”.

In late 2024, the abortion issue has suddenly erupted in Queensland and South Australia. A subset of local conservatives, energised by the fall of Roe v Wade and the example of Donald Trump, are embracing the divisive “culture war” tactics that dominate US politics.

In the 2020 Queensland election, the Liberal National Party (LNP) has promised a “review” of the legislation that had decriminalised abortion two years prior. However, the party has spent most of the 2024 campaign studiously avoiding the issue.

That is, until Robbie Katter MP, of Katter’s Australia Party, threw a spanner in the works.

On October 8, Katter announced that if the LNP won, as was widely predicted, he would immediately introduce a private member’s bill to repeal the state abortion law.

LNP leader David Crisafulli, who voted against decriminalisation, insists that changing the law is “not part of our plan”.

However, last week Crisafulli was asked 132 times about abortion and the issue of conscience votes and refused to provide a clear answer.

In the final leaders’ debate on Tuesday night, Crisafulli finally said there would be no change to abortion law and he was “pro-choice”.

However, that is unlikely to be the end of the issue - opposition to abortion runs deep in the LNP.

Party policy in 2018 was that abortion should remain a criminal offence. Despite being a conscience vote, the three LNP members who voted for decriminalisation were threatened with........

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