A looming challenge to abortion laws likened to a dystopian drama has placed extra election scrutiny on the man tipped to be Queensland's next premier.
The conservative Katter's Australian Party is pledging to introduce a bill rolling back abortion law changes after the October 26 poll.
Liberal National Party leader David Crisafulli has repeatedly promised not to change abortion laws, enduring 39 questions on the subject at a media event on Wednesday.
But he has declined to comment on whether he would deny his LNP colleagues a conscience vote on the matter if elected.
Queensland MP Robbie Katter's party plans to introduce a bill rolling back abortion law changes. (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS)
The threat of a legislative challenge to abortion laws looms as a test of Mr Crisafulli's leadership.
Queensland Unions secretary Jacqueline King said no one should be playing politics with women's bodies, describing the proposed abortion law overhaul as a "step back into the dark ages".
She told AAP there was a "high probability" the bill could be passed given the number of LNP candidates and members who hold anti-abortion views.
"It's surreal - it's very much thinking about a Handmaid's Tale," she said, referring to the dystopian novel about women being subjected to child-bearing slavery.
"Queenslanders in 2024 believe (they) are just fundamental rights, that we have rights over our bodies.
"To think that LNP members would come in and override what those rights are is pretty appalling."
David Crisafulli voted against decriminalising abortion in Queensland in 2018. (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS)
Queensland's Labor government decriminalised abortion in 2018, allowing terminations at up to 22 weeks' gestation and with two medical practitioners' approval thereafter.
Mr Crisafulli and his deputy Jarrod Bleijie were among the LNP MPs who voted against the bill.
Katter's Australian Party attempted to repeal termination of pregnancy laws in March in a private bill which was slapped down by a parliamentary committee.
The party has promised to revisit the issue after receiving support from LNP backbenchers.
"The Katter's priority is re-criminalising abortion," Mr Crisafulli said.
"Labor's priority is running a scare campaign to brush over their failings in crime.Â
"Our plan is dealing with youth crime."
Queensland Unions' Jacqueline King says no one should be playing politics with women's bodies. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)
Ms King called on Mr Crisafulli to commit to denying LNP members a conscience vote as the "only option" to protect his integrity ahead of the polls.
Premier Steven Miles compared it to abortion rights being stripped when the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.
"Women in the United States for 50 years thought their rights were secure, and now they've lost those rights and when Australian women look to what's happening there, they start to wonder whether their rights are secure," he said.
Greens MP Michael Berkman also raised concerns.
"If Mr Crisafulli won't commit to not allowing a conscience vote then I think we've got good reason to be afraid of where they could take us," he told AAP.