A baby who was born alive in Queensland, Australia, following a failed abortion procedure at 16 weeks, was left to die sucking his thumb, according to information from a whistleblower at the hospital.
A photograph of the baby, known as Samuel, was initially shared on the Instagram account of Dr Joanna Howe, a Professor of Law at the University of Adelaide. Dr Howe stated that the photograph and other relevant information were passed on to her by Queensland health workers.
“He survived his abortion and was born alive and then left in a room by himself, sucking his little thumb, until he died”, Dr Howe said.
“We need to stand up for these little babies who are being killed right up until birth, and if by some miracle they survive their abortion, they’re being left to die”, she added.
In another video, Dr Howe stated that the circumstances in which baby Samuel died are “not an isolated case. It happened to 50 Queensland babies in 2022 who survived their abortion and were left to die”.
Dr Howe revealed shortly thereafter that an additional whistleblower who works in the Queensland health service had given her a photograph of the administration book where births are recorded.
Dr Howe stated that the book reveals that one unborn baby named Amira was “injected in the heart with poison at 25 weeks. She suffered a cardiac arrest, going into excruciating pain. Her mother was given labour-inducing drugs and baby Amira was born intact”, adding that the baby was delivered dead.
The birth book reveals that baby Amira weighed 726 grams when born, which Dr Howe notes is approximately “the size of a pineapple”. It also revealed that the abortion was a “social termination”, meaning “there was nothing wrong Amira, there was nothing wrong with the mother”, according to Dr Howe.
Abortion up to birth
Following law changes to “decriminalise” abortion, starting with Victoria in 2008, abortion is now allowed up to birth in all states of Australia.
State laws in Australia allow for abortion right through to birth on physical, psychological and social grounds when approved by two doctors; this can be the abortion operating surgeon and anaesthetist.
This has, in practice, allowed for de facto abortion on demand, for any reason, right through to birth in Australia.
Victoria was the first state to change their law to allow de facto abortion on demand up to birth. Ahead of the legislation being introduced in Victoria in 2008, abortion activists claimed that, although abortion would, in practice, be allowed for any reason, doctors would ensure that the vast majority of abortions would occur only in rare circumstances, such as when a baby had a condition where they would either die in the womb or shortly after birth (a fatal fetal abnormality or life-limiting disability).
Data from the operation of the law in Victoria shows that this has not been the case. Right To Life UK’s Public Affairs team undertook an extensive analysis of published abortion data on late-term abortions in Victoria from The Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality.
This data shows that between 2008, when the law changed, and 2020, 1,418 late-term abortions (between 20 weeks gestation and birth) were performed, allowed by doctors for ‘psychosocial’ reasons – these were abortions where the baby did not have a disability and the abortion was performed on social grounds. In 2011, one of these abortions on social grounds occurred at 37 weeks.
In South Australia, the only jurisdiction whose laws require it to regularly collect and publish data on abortion, in 2023, almost 80% of late-term abortions performed at 23 weeks gestation or over were carried out due to the mental or physical health of the mother, with none of the late-term abortions being carried out to save the life of the mother.
Babies born alive and left to die
In the state of Victoria, of 310 late-term abortions (after 20 weeks), 33 babies were born alive and subsequently died. These deaths were recorded as “neonatal deaths” rather than deaths by abortion.
In 2008, a UK report found that 66 infants were born alive after NHS terminations in one year. The majority of those 66 babies took over an hour to die.
In the state of Victoria, scores of babies have been left to die after being removed alive during a number of ‘failed’ terminations, according to one official review.
The review reported that in 2011 there were 40 ‘terminations of pregnancy’ after 20 weeks ‘resulting in live birth’. While these figures are comparable in scale, Victoria’s population of 5.5 million is just a tenth of Britain’s.
Between 2005 and 2015, 204 babies were born alive as a result of abortions in Queensland.
Abortion ‘decriminalisation’ amendment currently being considered by the House of Lords
In June 2025, pro-abortion MPs, led by Tonia Antoniazzi MP, hijacked the Crime and Policing Bill to rush through the ‘decriminalisation’ clause (191) after just 46 minutes of backbench debate – there was no prior consultation with the public, no Committee Stage scrutiny and no evidence sessions.
The Antoniazzi clause would make it more likely that healthy babies are aborted at home for any reason, up to birth.
The clause would change the law so it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason, and at any point up to and during birth.
If this amendment becomes law, it would likely lead to a significant increase in the number of women performing late-term abortions at home, endangering the lives of many more women.
The proposed change to the law would also lead to an increased number of viable babies’ lives being ended well beyond the 24-week abortion time limit and beyond the point at which they would be able to survive outside the womb.
Tonia Antoniazzi MP said in an interview that she was comfortable with women being able to abort a viable baby at 37 weeks.
91% of 28,000 respondents to a poll run by The Telegraph said they were opposed to the extreme law change that would be introduced by clause 191.
A high-profile member of the House of Lords, Baroness Monckton, has tabled an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, along with other Peers, to overturn the highly controversial ‘decriminalisation’ amendment in the Bill.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “It is tragic to hear this harrowing information on abortion in Queensland that Dr Joanna Howe and the whistleblowers have brought to light”.
“When women discover they are pregnant, they should be met with the practical help and support they need to continue their pregnancy. The law must be changed to ensure that the most vulnerable people in our society – unborn children without their own voices – do not have their lives unnecessarily ended”.
