Abortion in New Zealand
Encyclopedia
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
is currently legal in cases where the pregnant woman faces a danger to her life, physical or mental health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
, or if there is a risk of the fetus
Fetus
A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth.In humans, the fetal stage of prenatal development starts at the beginning of the 11th week in gestational age, which is the 9th week after fertilization.-Etymology and spelling variations:The...
being handicapped
Disability
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
, in the event of the continuation of her pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
. Regulations in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
require that abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
s after 12 weeks gestation
Gestation
Gestation is the carrying of an embryo or fetus inside a female viviparous animal. Mammals during pregnancy can have one or more gestations at the same time ....
be performed in a 'licensed institution,' which is generally understood to be a hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
. Abortions must be approved by two doctor
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
s (referred to as "certifying consultants" within the legislation) — one of whom must be a gynaecologist or obstetrician. Counselling is optional if the woman desires it, but is not mandatory within current abortion law. There is no statutory definition of fetuses or embryos as an "unborn child" within New Zealand abortion law.
History
Abortion was criminalised in New Zealand by the UK Offences against the Person Act 1861Offences Against The Person Act 1861
The Offences against the Person Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to offences against the person from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act...
, adopted in New Zealand in 1866. The 1893 Criminal Code Act made the punishments for illegal abortion a maximum of seven years imprisonment for the women and life for the doctor. Illegal abortions continued to occur, however, and it was generally understood that abortions performed in good faith to protect the life of the woman or her mental or physical health would not lead to prosecution. The 1936 Committee of Enquiry headed by D.G. McMilland reported that one in five pregnancies in New Zealand resulted in an induced abortion. Some pregnant women died, were injured or infected, or abused by practitioners of illegal abortion. In the 1940s, the discovery of antibiotics made infection less likely, which also meant some doctors were more likely to assist.
Public debate increased following the legalisation of abortion in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1967 and in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
in 1969. The legalisation of abortion in Australia
Abortion in Australia
Abortion in Australia is a subject of state law rather than national law. The grounds on which abortion is permitted in Australia vary from state to state. In every state, abortion is legal to protect the life and health of the woman, though each state has a different definition.There is no law...
enabled New Zealand women who could afford to travel to have abortions in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. After a Royal Commission on New Zealand abortion law, Parliament passed the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977
Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977
Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand.-External links:*...
. The law caused much confusion over the demarcation of certain restrictions as to when an abortion would be legal, and led to a series of amendments that were passed in the following year to clarify the Parliament's intentions.
Status of the Unborn Child Bill 1983 and Antiabortionist Schism
In 1983, pro-lifers lobbied Parliament to try to pass a pro-life private members bill, the Status of the Unborn Child BillStatus of the Unborn Child Bill
The Status of the Unborn Child Bill was a New Zealand pro-life private members bill that was introduced into the New Zealand Parliament in 1983 by pro-life National MP Douglas Kidd, after Wall v Livingston [1982] had clarified that embryos and fetuses had no legal status in New Zealand, and thus,...
. It was defeated 48-30.
The Status of the Unborn Child Bill caused a schism within the New Zealand pro-life movement. Christchurch SPUC (now Right to Life New Zealand
Right to Life New Zealand
Right to Life New Zealand is a Christchurch-based pro-life group. It was expelled from the New Zealand Society for Protection of the Unborn Child in December 1999....
) was expelled from SPUC (now Voice for Life
Voice for Life
Voice for Life is New Zealand's oldest and largest pro-life group with branches nationwide. Voice for Life's role is to educate about the humanity of the preborn child, the effects of abortion on women and advocate for social change so that abortion is seen as unthinkable medical homicide...
) for continuing to advocate passage of the Status of the Unborn Child Bill, when National SPUC had decided that there was insufficient support to do so within Parliament, and had decided on incremental anti-abortionist tactics (see below)
Prolife Action and Operation Rescue: 1989-1994
In the eighties, New Zealand pro-lifers frequently followed the lead of their United States counterparts. For example, Chicago-based conservative pro-lifePro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
activist Joseph Scheidler
Joseph Scheidler
Joseph M. Scheidler is a noted American pro-life activist, National Director of the Pro-Life Action League, former Benedictine monk, and named defendant in the NOW v. Scheidler litigation, a 19-year saga which was ultimately resolved in Scheidler's favor by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2006. He is...
visited New Zealand in the mid-eighties, prompting the formation of namesake "Pro-Life Action Groups" in Christchurch and Wellington. In the late eighties, conservative pro-life activist Mary O'Neill was largely responsible for importing Randall Terry
Randall Terry
Randall Almira Terry is an American pro-life activist and candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in 2012. Terry founded the pro-life organization Operation Rescue. The group became particularly prominent beginning in 1987 for blockading the entrances to abortion clinics;...
's direct action "Operation Rescue" pro-life tactic to New Zealand, but it faced resistance. In Christchurch and Wellington, pro-choice activists mobilised against Operation Rescue New Zealand
Operation Rescue New Zealand
Operation Rescue New Zealand was a short-lived New Zealand pro-life civil disobedience group , partly formed from Wellington and Christchurch "Pro-Life Action Groups", but initiated by a group of four young men who first sought to "rescue" unborn children prayfully and no violently. The group were...
, and ultimately, family stresses, heavy fines and lack of more conservative pro-life support ended the existence of Operation Rescue (its parent organisation is now known as Operation Save America
Operation Save America
Operation Save America is an organization based in Dallas, Texas, that opposes human induced abortion and its legality. In 1994, Flip Benham became the director of the organization, then called Operation Rescue National. Benham replaced Keith Tucci, who had replaced Randall Terry...
).
The Contemporary Status of the New Zealand Abortion Debate
Thereafter, Parliament served as an occasional venue for debates about the composition of the Abortion Supervisory Committee, when appointments and expiry dates for its membership have come and gone. Unlike the United States, abortion access has steadily expanded, and both pro-choice and pro-life groups have demobilised. While abortion has not been wholly decriminalised as ALRANZ (the Abortion Law Reform Association of New ZealandAbortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand
The Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand is New Zealand's national pro-choice advocacy group. It has existed since 1971. One of its early members was family planning doctor and pediatrician, Dr. Alice Bush . For most of the last thirty years, its President has been Dr...
) wishes, nor is abortion access limited.
Current Parliamentary Status of New Zealand Abortion Debate
In the most recent (49th New Zealand Parliament, 2008-2011) New Zealand parliamentary vote on the composition of the Abortion Supervisory Committee (7 April 2011), anti-abortion Maori PartyMaori Party
The Māori Party, a political party in New Zealand, was formed on 7 July 2004. The Party is guided by eight constitutional "kaupapa", or Party objectives. Tariana Turia formed the Māori Party after resigning from the Labour Party where she had been a Cabinet Minister in the Fifth Labour-led...
co-leader Tariana Turia
Tariana Turia
Tariana Turia is a New Zealand politician. She gained considerable prominence during the foreshore and seabed controversy, and eventually broke with her party as a result...
moved that an anti-abortion Pacific Island doctor, Dr Ate Moala, be appointed to the ASC. The resultant vote was 70-30 against Ms Turia's motion, with twenty absences or abstentions. Altogether, twenty six National Party MPs and four Maori Party MPs voted for the addition of Dr Moala, while all Labour and ACT MPs and several National Party MPs as well as Independents Chris Carter
Chris Carter
-Sports:* Cris Carter , former American football All-Pro wide receiver* Chris Carter , British middle distance runner* Chris Carter , American hurdler...
and one Harawira], and United Future MP Peter Dunne
Peter Dunne
Peter Dunne is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament who leads the United Future political party. He has served as a Cabinet minister in governments dominated by the centre-left Labour Party as well as by the centre-right National Party...
voted against the motion, which was lost
In 1999 the late Graeme White was found guilty and jailed for tunneling into an abortion clinic in a failed attempt to blow it up. White later drowned.
Mifepristone/Mifegyne and Introduction of Medical Abortion in New Zealand: 2003-
In April 2003 Justice Durie clarified parts of the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977 relating to "performing" medical abortions so women who wish to have medical abortionMedical abortion
A medical abortion is a type of non-surgical abortion in which abortifacient pharmaceutical drugs are used to induce abortion. An oral preparation for medical abortion is commonly referred to as an abortion pill....
s must take medications in a licensed facility but don't need to remain there between taking the two sets of tablets which are taken 48 hours apart. Women also don't need to stay in the facility until the expulsion of the fetus completes the abortion
The Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977
The core legislation pertaining to abortion is the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977
Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand.-External links:*...
, and it enacted parallel specifications through amendment of the Guardianship Act 1968 (retained in the Care of Children Act 2004) and Section 187A of the Crimes Act 1961. These provisions enable women to undergo confidential medical consultation after they have seen two certifying consultant medical practitioners.
Current New Zealand law
Law of New Zealand
The law of New Zealand can be found in several sources. The primary sources of New Zealand law are statutes enacted by the New Zealand Parliament and decisions of the New Zealand Courts. At a more fundamental level, the law of New Zealand is based on three related principles: parliamentary...
allows for abortions to be performed for the following reasons, providing the abortion is approved by two certifying consultants and the pregnancy is less than 20 weeks old:
- to save the life of the woman (even if after 20 weeks)
- to preserve the physical health of the woman
- to preserve the mental healthMental healthMental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
of the woman - foetal impairmentFoetal impairmentFoetal impairment are grounds for an abortion in New Zealand.It refers to the existence of life-threatening or serious anatomical signs that will lead to either an impaired quality of life or at worst, lethal anatomical malformation which renders the fetus unable to survive outside a pregnant...
- in cases of incestIncestIncest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
Other factors which may be considered, but are not in themselves grounds for abortion, are:
- cases of rapeRapeRape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
- certain social factors (e.g., the girl's age in a teenage pregnancyTeenage pregnancyTeenage pregnancy is a pregnancy of a female under the age of 20 when the pregnancy ends. It generally refers to a female who is unmarried and usually refers to an unplanned pregnancy...
).
New Zealand has no parental notification restrictions on under-sixteen access for abortion. In 2003, anti-abortionists attempted to introduce such restrictions into the Care of Children Act 2004, but their move was heavily defeated in New Zealand's Parliament.
As the annual statistics for the Abortion Supervisory Committee have repeatedly noted, mental health grounds are the predominant grounds for most certified abortions in New Zealand. The high numbers of abortions in New Zealand for mental health grounds have led pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
rs to express concerns that the mental health exception is being used to allow abortion on demand.
By contrast, ALRANZ notes that successive abortion-related case law has preserved the status quo of partial decriminalisation and liberal terms of abortion access for most New Zealand women who need an abortion.
In 2010 Steve Chadwick, a MP in the Labour Party, proposed a Abortion Reform Bill to take abortion out of the Crimes Act
Crimes Act 1961
The Crimes Act 1961 is an Act of the Parliament of New Zealand administered by the Ministry of Justice.-Amendments:The Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986 amended the Crimes Act, allowing for consensual homosexual relationships between men....
. The anti-abortion organisation Voice for Life
Voice for Life
Voice for Life is New Zealand's oldest and largest pro-life group with branches nationwide. Voice for Life's role is to educate about the humanity of the preborn child, the effects of abortion on women and advocate for social change so that abortion is seen as unthinkable medical homicide...
will be opposing the Bill.
Abortion Supervisory Committee
The Abortion Supervisory Committee collects statistics on the numbers of terminations performed each year, and for what reason under the terms of the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977
Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand.-External links:*...
. It reported that there was 18,511 abortions performed in New Zealand in 2003. According to 2003 figures by Statistics New Zealand
Statistics New Zealand
Statistics New Zealand is the national statistical office of New Zealand.-Organisation:New Zealand's Minister of Statistics is Maurice Williamson who serves as a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives and holds several other posts within government...
, there were 21.0 abortions per 1000 women. This equates to roughly 247 per 1000 known pregnancies. Split amongst ethnicity in 2002 the highest rates were amongst Asian
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
women (374), followed by Māori (245), Pacific Island women (243) and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an women (209).
New Zealand's abortion rate (number of abortions per 1000 women aged 15–44 years) is slightly below Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
's (22.2), and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(21.3), but above Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
's (13.8), Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
's (both 10.9) and many Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an countries.
Since 2003 abortion clinics have been able to administer medical abortion
Medical abortion
A medical abortion is a type of non-surgical abortion in which abortifacient pharmaceutical drugs are used to induce abortion. An oral preparation for medical abortion is commonly referred to as an abortion pill....
s. (Taking mifegyne/mifepristone
Mifepristone
Mifepristone is a synthetic steroid compound used as a pharmaceutical. It is a progesterone receptor antagonist used as an abortifacient in the first months of pregnancy, and in smaller doses as an emergency contraceptive. During early trials, it was known as RU-38486 or simply RU-486, its...
to cause the embryo to dislodge from the uterine wall, and a prostaglandin supplement to expel the remains.)
The New Zealand Abortion Debate: Quiescent?
In New Zealand today, abortion is not a major politicalPolitics of New Zealand
The politics of New Zealand take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy. The basic system is closely patterned on that of the Westminster System, although a number of significant modifications have been made...
issue, and since the 1970s most of the abortion related lobby groups from both sides of the political spectrum have largely demobilised.
Currently in New Zealand, the main pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
lobby group is Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand
Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand
The Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand is New Zealand's national pro-choice advocacy group. It has existed since 1971. One of its early members was family planning doctor and pediatrician, Dr. Alice Bush . For most of the last thirty years, its President has been Dr...
(ALRANZ), which favours the complete decriminalisation of abortion in New Zealand, but if that does not occur wants to have socio-economic reasons made a reason for obtaining a legal abortion. The Women's National Abortion Action Campaign, Action for Abortion Rights and Mothers for Choice are other, younger pro-choice organisations.
The main pro-life lobby groups are Right to Life, Family Life International, and Voice for Life
Voice for Life
Voice for Life is New Zealand's oldest and largest pro-life group with branches nationwide. Voice for Life's role is to educate about the humanity of the preborn child, the effects of abortion on women and advocate for social change so that abortion is seen as unthinkable medical homicide...
, which favours reforming New Zealand abortion law
Abortion law
Abortion law is legislation and common law which pertains to the provision of abortion. Abortion has been a controversial subject in many societies through history because of the moral, ethical, practical, and political power issues that surround it. It has been banned frequently and otherwise...
to make it more restrictive. In recent years, it has imitated imported tactics from the United States and lobbied for a "parental consent" law, which would require a girl under 16 years of age to obtain the consent of her parents before having an abortion, even if she had experienced parental incest or was in unsafe and dysfunctional family circumstances. Voice for Life has also tried to lobby parliament to alter the composition of the Abortion Supervisory Committee in the hope of limiting the number of abortions performed on mental health grounds, but has repeatedly failed.
In 2004, Parliament debated legislation related to amendments to the Care of Children Act 2004, which would have required a girl under 16 years of age to notify her parents before having an abortion. Currently, no parental notification or consent laws are in place for women under 18 seeking abortions. Conservative National
New Zealand National Party
The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...
MP for Clevedon Judith Collins
Judith Collins
Judith Anne Collins is a New Zealand National Party politician and a lawyer. She is a front bench Cabinet minister with the portfolios of Police, Corrections and Veterans' Affairs in the Fifth National Government....
was the primary mover of this amendment, supported by the pro-life lobby group Voice for Life
Voice for Life
Voice for Life is New Zealand's oldest and largest pro-life group with branches nationwide. Voice for Life's role is to educate about the humanity of the preborn child, the effects of abortion on women and advocate for social change so that abortion is seen as unthinkable medical homicide...
/SPUC
SPUC
Society for the Protection of Unborn Children is a pro-life organisation in the United Kingdom and several other countries.In New Zealand, SPUC changed its name to "Voice for Life" in August 2004...
.
Collins was opposed by ALRANZ, the New Zealand Medical Association and New Zealand College of General Practitioners. A NZ Herald Digipoll showed that 71% of New Zealanders believed parents should be informed about whether or not their child was to have an abortion, with 60% believing this should be legally mandatory. This "parental notification" legislation was heavily defeated, as the New Zealand Medical Association and New Zealand College of General Practitioners objected that the abrogation of medical confidentiality would endanger pregnant incest survivors, and/or those within similar dysfunctional families and abusive parents. Another pro-life amendment was also defeated. It was allegedly designed to help victims of incest by requiring the Abortion Supervisory Committee to collect statistics on how many abortions come from pregnancies caused by incest, and what happened to those young women after their abortion. Again, Parliament rejected this on the basis of abrogation of medical confidentiality for no evidence-based purpose. Voice for Life cited material from the US National Right to Life Committee
National Right to Life Committee
The National Right to Life Committee is the oldest and largest pro-life organization in the United States with affiliates in all 50 states and over 3,000 local chapters nationwide. The group works through legislation and education to work against abortion, infanticide, euthanasia and assisted...
and other US pro-life groups, while the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand similarly used material from the National Abortion Rights Action League and other US pro-choice organisations.
During the recent 48th New Zealand Parliament
48th New Zealand Parliament
The 48th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. Its composition was determined at a general election held on 17 September 2005. The new parliament met for the first time on 7 November 2005...
, former Kiwi Party list MP Gordon Copeland
Gordon Copeland
Gordon Copeland is a New Zealand politician who was a Member of Parliament from 2002 to 2008. He was a list MP for the United Future New Zealand party from 2002 until he resigned from the party in 2007. He is now Party President of The Kiwi Party, which he co-founded with another former United...
had a private members bill, the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion (Informed Consent) Amendment Bill, drawn from the ballot the ballot. It was based on an Australian Capital Territory 'informed consent' piece of legislation, since repealed, and was defeated on a voice vote in Parliament. Copeland has since been voted out of Parliament, as he did not secure a constituency seat at the New Zealand general election held in 2008
New Zealand general election, 2008
The 2008 New Zealand general election was held on 8 November 2008 to determine the composition of the 49th New Zealand parliament. The conservative National Party, headed by its Parliamentary leader John Key, won a plurality of votes and seats, ending 9 years of government dominated by the social...
and his Kiwi Party polled well under the five percent threshold under the MMP framework in the Electoral Act 1993.
Right to Life New Zealand and Court Cases Against the Abortion Supervisory Committee: 2005-2011
Right to LifeRight to Life New Zealand
Right to Life New Zealand is a Christchurch-based pro-life group. It was expelled from the New Zealand Society for Protection of the Unborn Child in December 1999....
launched a court case against the Abortion Supervisory Committee, accusing it of not sufficiently regulating abortion by allowing broad interpretation of the mental health exception. However, the Abortion Supervisory Committee appealed this to the New Zealand Court of Appeal after a High Court
High Court of New Zealand
The High Court of New Zealand is a superior court of New Zealand. It was established in 1841 and known as the Supreme Court of New Zealand until 1980....
decision supported some of Right to Life New Zealand's points, which led the Abortion Supervisory Committee to appeal those findings.
On 1 June 2011 the Court of Appeal did not uphold the earlier High Court verdict, or Right to Life's argument and found against them, arguing that there was no statutory reference to embryos and fetuses within New Zealand law and therefore no grounds for further attempted interference with existing abortion access procedures
Further reading
- McMillan D G (1937). Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Various Aspects of the Problem of Abortion in New Zealand, Government Printer, Wellington. (facsimile scan at ibiblio.orgIbiblioibiblio is a "collection of collections," and hosts a diverse range of publicly available information and open source software, including software, music, literature, art, history, science, politics, and cultural studies. As an "Internet librarianship," ibiblio is a digital library and archive...
)
External links
- Statistics New Zealand - abortion statistics from (also has the current laws)