This week I became somewhat of a vigilante keyboard warrior, trawling posts about the passing of baby Priya’s bill to correct every commenter that wilfully misunderstood the bill or used it as an excuse to pick a fight about women’s rights. No, the bill will not put small business owners out of business by forcing them to offer unlimited paid leave. No, the bill won’t mean women’s employment numbers go down. And very importantly, no, the bill does not incentivise late-term terminations.

The Australian federal parliament passed baby Priya’s bill – an amendment to the Fair Work Act – to ensure employers cannot cancel paid parental leave in the event of stillbirth or because a baby dies after birth. The change brings employer paid parental leave in line with government-funded parental leave and unpaid parental leave.

The bill is named for baby Priya, who died at 42 days old, and whose parents unwaveringly led the charge for change.

Priya’s mum’s parental leave was cancelled when Priya died – even though she had already been on leave for six weeks. Rather than being given the grace and the time to recover and grieve, she was expected to return to work or take unpaid leave. She had worked for her employer for 11 years.

On an average day in Australia, eight babies die in the perinatal period:

© The Guardian