NZ Family Planning Application for Abortion Licence: Letter to all MP’s

Dear

The New Zealand Family Planning Association has applied to the Abortion Supervisory Committee for a licence to perform medical abortions at its Hamilton clinic. This information was recently obtained from the Committee under the Official Information Act. The Association in March announced that it was its intention to apply for an abortion licence for all of its 30 clinics. Right to Life is opposed to the Association being provided with an abortion licence for the Hamilton clinic or any other clinic administered by the Association.

Right to Life knows that the Family Planning Association is strongly pro-abortion and unsuitable to be granted a licence to terminate the lives of unborn children.

• The Association is the major abortion referral agency in New Zealand and believes that abortion is needed as a back up for so called failed contraceptives.
• It supports girls under the age of 16 being able to have an abortion without the knowledge or consent of parents.
• It has an employment policy to employ only doctors who believe that abortion is for a woman to choose in consultation with a doctor of her choice, this is abortion on demand which is unlawful in New Zealand.

In the event of the Association being granted a licence to perform abortions, our Society would have serious concerns about the lawfulness of these abortions. You would be aware that Justice Miller in the High Court Judicial Review of the performance of the Abortion Supervisory Committee, stated in his judgment in June 2008, that abortion on demand was unlawful and that “there is reason to doubt the lawfulness of many abortions authorised by certifying consultants.”

• Many doctors employed by Family Planning are certifying consultants.
• The Association is an ardent advocate for the decriminalisation of abortion in New Zealand.
• The Association believes that unborn children are not endowed with inalienable human rights, that the killing of an unborn child is not a crime and that abortion should be a health matter for a woman to choose.
• The Association is a vocal advocate of a “woman’s right to choose to terminate the life of her child” there is no such right.

Mifegyne RU486, used in New Zealand for medical abortions is a poisonous pill, its sole purpose is to kill an innocent and defenceless unborn child in its first seven weeks of life. This human pesticide was invented in France in 1980 by Dr Etienne-Emily Baulieu. The previous chairman of Rousel Ucclaf, the drugs manufacturer ,Edouard Sarkiz stated that using the drug was not a simple procedure and was “an appalling psychological ordeal for women.” Many French women have said that it is a very painful experience. The poison acts by blocking the hormone progesterone which enables the baby to remain implanted in the mother’s womb and to be nourished. Mifegyne causes the baby to die painfully from starvation. Its use was approved in New Zealand by the Minister of Health in 2001.

A licence should not be issued against the wishes of the local community. We are all called to defend life; a community has a duty and the right to defend the right to life of its unborn children and to protect the health and welfare of its women.

The issuing of a licence would in our Society’s view be in contravention of the Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977, s 21 [2] [a] Grant of licences, which states, “There is a need for another licensed institution in the area in which the institution to which the application relates is situated.” There are three Public Hospitals administered by the Waikato District Health Board that are licensed to perform abortions, Hamilton, Thames and Tokoroa. In 2007 there were 2172 abortions performed at these Hospitals. There is no need to provide a further licensed facility in Hamilton.

The application by the Family Planning Association for an abortion licence for its Hamilton clinic is but the first of 30 applications for its other clinics throughout New Zealand. It was the wish of Parliament in passing the Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977 that there be accountability to the public for the performance of abortion in New Zealand by having abortions performed in Public Hospitals that are accountable to the communities which they serve. They are also subject to the Official Information Act.

• In the event that an abortion licence is issued to the Family Planning Association this accountability and scrutiny will cease.

• It is believed that issuing an abortion licence for the Hamilton Family Planning clinic will result in an increase in abortions in the Waikato.

A nation that kills its own children has no future. Our Society would be grateful if you would advise if you oppose the Family Planning Association being provided with a licence to perform abortions at its Hamilton clinic and other clinics. We also request that you advise us if you are opposed to government funding to the Association for the performance of abortions.

Yours sincerely

Ken Orr

Secretary