9th December, 2009

RU486 PETITION

Opposing the granting of a licence to Family Planning to

Perform medical abortions.

8,792 signatures!

From across the nation – Kaitaia to Invercargill.

3,529 signatures from Hamilton/Waikato/Coromandel.

5,263 signatures from across the rest of NZ.

I thank you so much for the work you did to help achieve that number.

Thanks to Gordon Copeland and Ken Orr for their assistance.

Today, or the 10th, Tim Macindoe, MP Hamilton West, will take the petition forms to parliament.

He will give them to the Clerk of the House, who will announce that they have been received.

The Clerk makes the decision which select committee will consider them, but we expect it to be the Justice and Electoral Select Committee, chaired by Chester Burrows. Please pray for Chester.

Today I have sent copies of all the forms to the Abortion Supervisory Committee, together with the same covering letter.

Attached is a copy of the letter that went with both lots of forms.

It is now in God’s hands. Please continue to pray for the process.

A few bits about Hamilton Family Planning (quoted from their application form):

• They see about 1,200 clients per month for a wide range of sexual and reproductive health issues.
• Approx 40 women per month are referred for a termination of pregnancy (TOP), i.e. surgical abortion, to Waikato, Thames or Tokoroa Hospital.
• They have three doctors who are all Certifying Consultants. Two of these have each had over 10 years experience in the Waikato District Hospital Board surgical TOP service.
• They have five nurses. One has been to UK for two weeks with Bpas, where she learnt about all aspects of their process for providing medical abortions.
• Another staff member visited Planned Parenthood in New York, Bpas and Marie Stopes (abortion providers) in London.
• There is one clinic manager and four reception staff.
• The Family Planning medical abortion Project Manager has been involved with Planned Parenthood USA, where medical abortion is carried out at home and 50% of all eligible patients now choose medical abortion, with over 96,000 medical abortions carried out in 2008.
• In preparation for the licence application Family Planning consulted with many staff involved in providing Early Medical Abortions in NZ, including: Dr Margaret Sparrow, Dr Simon Snook, staff at Te Mahoe Unit Wellington, AMAC Auckland, Epsom Day Unit Auckland, Lindhurst Hospital, Christchurch, and Dunedin medical abortion service.

Below is a copy of the media release by the Catholic Bishops.

Catholic bishops oppose licence for Early Medical Abortions

New Zealand’s Catholic bishops are writing to various government ministers to oppose and express their concern about the possible granting of a licence to dispense Mifepristone (Mifegyne® RU 486) with Misoprostol for the purpose of procuring Early Medical Abortions (EMA).

The Hamilton Family Planning Clinic has requested the licence which, if granted, will enable RU 486 to be used with Misoprostol to procure an abortion without the need for surgical intervention.

Fr Michael McCabe, Director of the bishops’ bioethics agency The Nathaniel Centre, says granting the licence for this or any of the Family Planning Clinics in New Zealand would effectively turn them into abortion clinics.

“This represents a major departure from their stated purpose and would inevitably make abortion easier to procure at a time when there is widespread agreement that abortion numbers in New Zealand are already far too high,” he says.

“Hamilton Family Planning’s proposed procedure for administering Mifepristone and Misoprostol could also place women at risk, as they will abort unsupervised at home”.

Of particular concern to the bishops is the dispensing of RU 486 and Misoprostol to girls under the age of 16 without their parents’ knowledge or consent.

“Such a scenario is at odds with other areas of law where parents can be held responsible for their children’s actions and medical care. Parental consent is required for minor medical interventions, but not for a procedure that has distressing and severe side effects, and the possibility of long term mental health consequences,” says Fr McCabe.

“Of further concern is the number of well documented side effects, with even promoters of the drug acknowledging that it is still too new to ascertain the long term consequences on future pregnancies.”

“In 2008 nearly 18,000 New Zealanders were killed by abortion. To make abortion even more available and to equate it with other means of family planning is a backward step in terms of reducing the numbers of abortions in New Zealand”.

I will be in touch again when there is something to report.

In the meantime have a blessed holiday season, and

“celebrate His abundant goodness”. (see all of Psalm 145)

Sue Rowe,

Ph (07) 847 5648

Email: roy.sue.rowe@clear.net.nz