Letter written to the Secretary of the Abortion Supervisory Committee on 4th June Re: Official Information Act – Request

Dear Sir, I wish to request under the Official Information Act the following information.

The Ombudsman in his letter to this Society advised that the members of the Standards Committee appointed by your Committee had resigned. We were informed that the duties of this Committee had now been delegated to a person appointed by your Committee.

I wish to request the name of the person appointed by your Committee to replace the Standards Committee.

The Ombudsman advised that the reason given by the previous members of the Standards Committee was that disclosure of their identities would lead to them being personally targeted and subject to improper pressure or harassment. The Ombudsman advised that your Committee “has provided examples of situations where the boundaries of legitimate protest appear to have been challenged [if not crossed], and individuals associated with the provision of abortions in New Zealand have been personally targeted and subjected to behaviour that is perceived to be threatening and intimidating.”

Right to Life is opposed to the killing of unborn children, it is also totally opposed to unlawful intimidation and threats against the life of any person. We are deeply concerned that any person would threaten the life of any person involved in authorising or performing abortions. We note that the Crimes Act 1961, section 306 provides for a sentence of imprisonment of up to 7 years for any person convicted of threatening to kill another person.

The allegations raise several important questions.

Were the allegations of a threat to kill referred to the Police for investigation?

If so what was the result of the investigations?

When were the threats to kill made and to how many persons?

Were the attacks on doctor’s children reported to the Police and if so what was the result of the Police investigation?

Yours sincerely,

Ken Orr

Secretary