'Perverse logic' over abortion, Barnaby Joyce tells Sydney crowd

Barnaby Joyce attended an abortion demonstration outside NSW parliament. (ABC News: Nick Dole)

One Nation recruit Barnaby Joyce has called for tighter controls on abortions at a demonstration in Sydney.

A private member's bill to ban abortions for the purpose of sex selection will be subject to a conscience vote.

The bill, introduced by Libertarian MP John Ruddick, is due to be debated in NSW parliament on Wednesday.

Nine months out from the New South Wales state election campaign, One Nation recruit Barnaby Joyce has appeared in Sydney, declaring politicians are fearful of losing their jobs.

The New England MP was the headline act at a demonstration in front of state parliament on Tuesday evening, which demanded tighter controls on abortion.

"I don't know much about lots, but I know lots about politics," Mr Joyce said.

"What I see before me here is about 1,500 people who can hand out how-to-vote cards."

The crowd on Tuesday called for stricter abortion controls. (ABC News: Nick Dole)

A private member's bill to ban abortions for the purpose of sex selection is due to be debated in parliament on Wednesday.

The practice was already banned under NSW Health policy and formally opposed by parliament in 2019, when MPs voted to decriminalise abortion.

However, Libertarian MP John Ruddick wants to explicitly outlaw abortions for sex selection reasons, and introduce penalties for medical practitioners who perform them.

Under his bill, they could face fines of up to $22,000 or up to five years in prison.

Mr Joyce, who travelled from Canberra for the event, told the crowd they must "keep the fire burning".

"Yet, for some unknown reason, if they're in utero, it's OK."

A private member's bill will be introduced to NSW parliament on Wednesday. (ABC News: Nick Dole)

Mr Joyce conceded speaking out on the issue could be a turn-off for some voters.

"But you know why you do it? Because it's the right thing to do."

Supporters of Mr Ruddick's bill pointed to a study last year from Edith Cowan University, which aimed to find indirect evidence of a link between sex-selective abortion practices and higher-than-expected rates of male births in some migrant populations.

The study — which examined birth data from 1994 to 2015 — determined there were "patterns consistent with male biased [sex birth ratio] among certain immigrant groups in Australia, particularly from countries with a strong son preference, such as India and China".

"While this may be indicative of prenatal sex-selection, our study does not establish causality," the study concluded.

NSW Health s