Jacinda’s Abortion Bill Promotes Increased Violence on Women and the Unborn

Media Release Sunday 4th August

Right to Life has learned through Newshub tonight that Jacinda’s Abortion Bill will be publicly released tomorrow. In a ‘news’ article which may as well be a promotional piece for those promoting abortion law reform Newshub’s Tova O’Brien gives us her personal pro-abortion views on the matter. In spite of the media spin this bill promotes increased violence, violence against Women and the Unborn.

The government bill is an unprecedented attack on women and their precious unborn disguised as health care. Pregnancy is not a disease and abortion is not health care. This bill constitutes an increasingly lethal attack on the family, by attacking and facilitating the killing its weakest and most vulnerable members, our unborn children.

Shockingly this bill is being driven by our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. She is passionate in her belief that the killing of an unborn child is not a crime and that women have a “right” to kill their child in the womb if it is unwanted. She sees the killing as “a reproductive choice for women.” Can the Prime Minister inform the community why she believes that the violent dismemberment of a defenceless child in the womb is not a crime and should be taken out of the Crimes Act, while at the same time stating that smacking a child is a serious crime that should be retained in the Crimes Act? Of course she can not!

It is deceptive and untrue for the Prime Minister to claim that this is not a government bill. We can confidently say this because she stated on Newshub on 23 July, “This is different – it’s not a Government Bill – it’s a Bill just really open to individual Members of Parliament to choose how they would like to vote.” This is patently nonsense. Why is she now trying to deceive New Zealand into believing that this is not her bill that she directed the Minister of Justice to draft in February 2018?

Why does the media not see Ardern’s statement here as needing to be challenged. Again we say it is total nonsense.

The government’s proposed legislation is supported by Family Planning and denies that the child is a human baby. The child is described as “the contents of the womb” to be treated as medical waste to be disposed of at the local land fill.

It is disappointing that the Prime Minister who is a loving mother and genuinely cares about children, child abuse, child poverty and is the Minister for Child Poverty Reduction is oblivious of the plight of our unborn, the weakest and most defenceless members of our human family.

The government has no mandate to remove women and their unborn from the protection of the Crimes Act. A poll conducted by AC Nielsen in 2004 on behalf of Right to Life found considerable support for recognising the humanity of the unborn child, The poll of 1000 persons found that 36% believed that the unborn child became a human being at conception, 14% at the time of implantation and 28 % at a point between implantation and birth. There were therefore a total of 78% who believed that the unborn child was a human being before birth. Why then is the government ignoring the wishes of the people?

The bill denies that the unborn child is a human being and that it has human rights, the foundation right being an inalienable right to life. It provides for the killing of the child up to 20 weeks for any reason After 20 weeks the child may be killed if a doctor considers that is appropriate. This is effectively abortion on demand up to birth.

This is a very sad and disturbing day for New Zealand. The State has a serious duty to protect the lives of every member of the community from conception to natural death. This bill represents the withdrawal by the State, since 1856, from its duty to protect the lives of the unborn and to protect women from the violence of abortion.

Ken Orr
Spokesperson,
Right to Life