Baby Samuel: Queensland’s Pro-Life Awakening

On Monday the 9th of February, led by Dr. Joanna Howe and in partnership with several of the leading organisations in the pro-life movement here in Queensland, we held what became known as the Public Gathering for Queensland Babies. These organisations included Australian Christian Lobby (Queensland), Family Voice Australia (Queensland), Australian Family Association, Pro-Life Health Professionals Australia, Church and State Ministries and Answers in Genesis (Australia).

What began as a focused effort to draw attention to the plight of the unborn quickly grew into something far greater than we anticipated. The scale of the event itself, the level of public attention it received, and the political ramifications that followed all far exceeded our expectations. In many ways, it marked a significant moment for the pro-life movement in our state.

To understand why this gathering took place and why it mattered so deeply, it is important to explain the journey that led to it.

In December 2024, the newly elected Queensland Premier, David Crisafulli, introduced a motion in Parliament - without debate - to place a gag order on discussion surrounding the Termination of Pregnancy Act 2018. This Act, introduced by Labor in 2018, permits abortion in Queensland up until birth. In practical terms, it allows abortion on demand, even in the latest stages of pregnancy. The motion to impose the gag order passed, and every single member of the LNP voted in favour of it.

We were genuinely astonished by what happened. The shock did not arise simply from the decision itself, but from the circumstances surrounding it. In the months leading up to the election, many within the pro-life movement had worked tirelessly behind the scenes to support candidates who professed pro-life convictions. We mobilised supporters to distribute campaign flyers, stand at polling booths, engage with voters, and provide financial backing where possible. In many cases, these efforts were instrumental in helping candidates either gain election for the first time or secure re-election.

Given that background, it was deeply surprising, indeed devastating, to see those same representatives suddenly vote to silence debate on abortion altogether. For many of us, it felt like an abrupt and painful contradiction.

However, rather than immediately launching public attacks against these Members of Parliament, we decided first to seek clarity. We reached out privately to several MPs in order to understand what had happened and why the decision had been made.

The responses we received were revealing. Several of those we spoke with expressed genuine remorse for their vote. Some openly admitted that they regretted the decision. Several of the MPs who profess the Christian faith even spoke about seeking forgiveness from the Lord for what had occurred. Many of them were first-time MPs who described feeling overwhelmed by the pressure of their new roles and the expectations placed upon them by party leadership. Some indicated that they felt coerced into voting in line with party policy rather than acting according to their personal convictions.

Although these conversations did not erase our disappointment, they did lead us to an important conclusion. Despite the devastation we felt, it appeared that there was still a window of opportunity to work constructively with these MPs. Many of them expressed a willingness to engage further with us and a desire to rectify what had happened if the opportunity arose.

With that in mind, we began to formulate a plan to attempt to overturn the gag order.

Our initial political assessment was relatively straightforward. We anticipated that the Labor Party would support the gag order, and we also assumed that the Greens would likely vote in favour of maintaining it.

This meant that the path forward required persuading LNP MP’s to cross the floor. Based on parliamentary numbers, we needed eight LNP MPs to vote in favour of removing the gag order for the motion to succeed.

We knew this was ambitious. Nevertheless, we believed it was possible. Again, several LNP MPs had previously expressed strong pro-life convictions both privately and publicly. Our hope was that if even a small number of those MPs took a courageous public stand, their example might embolden others to follow.

In private conversations, a number of individuals suggested that while they might not initially speak out publicly, they would ultimately vote according to conscience when the moment came.

That was the context in which we were operating.

With this plan in mind, we contacted MP for Traeger Robbie Katter and asked whether he would be willing to introduce a motion in Parliament to reverse the gag order. It is important to emphasise this point clearly: we approached Mr Katter and asked him to do this. I stress this because a prominent MP later publicly released a letter to her supporters suggesting that the situation had unfolded the other way around. In that letter she falsely implied that Mr Katter had initiated the process and, in doing so, diminished the extensive work the pro-life movement had undertaken for months prior. That claim was simply not accurate. Mr Katter agreed to help because we approached him.

The timing of what happened next dramatically amplified public attention on the issue.

In the week leading up to the rally, just days before Mr Katter was scheduled to introduce the motion, Joanna Howe released an image that would soon capture worldwide attention. The image showed a 16-week-old baby boy who had been born alive following an abortion procedure and then left to die at Townsville Hospital. Dr Howe named the child Samuel. Samuel lived for 30 minutes before succumbing to his injuries.

MP For Traeger and Head of Katters Australian Party - Robbie Katter

The photograph had been given to her by a courageous midwife who felt compelled to expose the brutal reality of what abortion can entail in practice. The story spread rapidly across social media and soon went viral. Major pro-life organisations around the world began sharing the story. Groups such as Live Action in the United States and Right To Life UK reported on Baby Samuel. The global outcry was immediate and overwhelming.

This moment generated enormous momentum for the rally.

Despite having only one week to organise the event, and despite it being scheduled for a Monday evening, more than 3,000 people attended the Public Gathering for Queensland Babies. It was an extraordinary demonstration of public concern. The rally brought together speakers from across the movement, including myself, Robbie Katter MP, the head of the Australian Christian Churches denomination Joel Chelliah, Pro-Life Health Professionals CEO Melanie Lai, Bird Flip, and Dr Joanna Howe herself.

The event quickly became a social media phenomenon, with clips and images spreading widely online and drawing attention from both national and international audiences.

The following day, Tuesday, the moment of political decision arrived.

I went to Parliament and sat in the public gallery, eagerly anticipating the vote. I wanted to see whether those MPs who had previously professed pro-life convictions, and who had expressed regret about their December vote, would now act according to conscience. In the end, only one did.

MP Nigel Dalton (Mackay) demonstrated extraordinary courage by crossing the floor. In doing so, he placed the lives of the unborn ahead of his own political ambitions and the pressures of party loyalty. It was a remarkable and deeply courageous act.

MP for Mackay Nigel Dalton

The outcome, however, was bittersweet. While one MP took a principled stand, many others who had publicly identified as pro-life, including some who profess the Christian faith remained seated. Only the Lord ultimately knows the full reasoning behind those decisions. For those individuals, the matter will remain a question of conscience, one they will have to live with for the rest of their lives.

Despite the political outcome not being what we had hoped for, the campaign itself represented something profoundly important for the pro-life movement in Queensland. In many ways, it marked a line in the sand.

For decades, advocacy groups often felt compelled to accept whatever limited concessions politicians were willing to offer. The dynamic was one in which lobby groups waited patiently for scraps from the political table. But those days are rapidly coming to an end.

The rise of social media has fundamentally changed the landscape. Increasingly, the public, not political institutions, shapes the narrative. The events surrounding Baby Samuel, the rally, and the parliamentary vote demonstrated that the issue of abortion is no longer confined to quiet legislative processes. It is now being debated openly in the public square.

There have already been numerous excuses and claims made in the aftermath of the vote. Those discussions will no doubt continue, and we will address them at another time. But at its core, the issue remains strikingly simple. You cannot say you are Pro-Life and vote against Pro-Life legislation, that is hypocrisy.

Abortion is the intentional and brutal act of ending the life of an innocent child. This parliamentary term presented an opportunity to begin addressing that injustice. If the gag order had been removed, we intended to introduce legislation restricting third-trimester abortion immediately. This would have passed and saved lives. Why? Because very few politicians, especially within the LNP, would have wanted to publicly stand up and defend abortion in the final stages of pregnancy. That opportunity was lost in that moment.

Yet the movement that rose around it is still growing. And in Queensland, the conversation has only just begun. The rally and the aftermath was covered by almost all mainstream media for example, Courier Mail, The Australian, The Guardian, Channel 9 and Channel 10 news.