Media Release
5 November 2009

Right to Life is hosting a protest march against the Family Planning Association’s move to turn their Hamilton branch into an abortion clinic.

This comes following the Family Planning Association’s (FPA) application to the Abortion Supervisory Committee for a license to commit abortions against unborn children up to 9wks. The FPA has previously stated that it wishes to use the abortion drug RU486 at its 30 centres throughout the country, which would mean the creation of an additional 30 abortion clinics throughout New Zealand.

“New Zealand already has an unacceptably high abortion rate,” says Right to Life president Peter Coleman. “The FPA wants to turn their 30 centres into abortion clinics, this can only lead to an increase in the number of abortions.”

“Look at Professor David Fergusson’s research that came out from Otago University yesterday, showing what we’ve been saying for years. Women are not being told of the dangerous side effects that they may suffer from following an abortion,” he says.

The research showed that having an abortion increases the mother’s risk of mental health damage by 80%. A similar study taken in Canada in September this year showed that having an abortion increased the chance of premature birth in subsequent pregnancies by 36%.

The march will start in Cathedral Square at 1pm on Friday 6 November with protesters walking to the Christchurch Family Planning centre.