Right to Life New Zealand

Upholding the sanctity of life in New Zealand and Standing Against the Killing

Is Jacinda Ardern Serious about Reducing Child Abuse?

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Media Release 19 October 2019

Abortion is the ultimate in child abuse! Why does the Prime Minister refuse to acknowledge that the violent dismemberment of a defenceless and innocent child in the womb is child abuse -in fact the ultimate child abuse. It is appalling that she calls it “Health Care”.
The Prime Minister has stated that she has a passionate desire to reduce child abuse in New Zealand. In May 2019 in response to the Stuff Homicide Report she said, that New Zealand’s record of family violence is ” horrific and “shocking” and that addressing the issue is one of the governments priorities.

If this is a priority Prime Minister, why then are you promoting the Abortion Legislation Bill which decriminalises the abuse and killing of children and makes the murder of innocent and defenceless children “a reproductive choice for women” and a ‘health service’. New Zealand is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a child. This bill will increase child abuse in New Zealand and make New Zealand a more violent society.

It is an appalling injustice that the government applauds this child abuse of the unborn by having the abortionists who engage in the killing of thousands of defenceless unborn awarded with a knighthood for “services to women.”

Right to Life fully supports the Prime Minister in her resolve to stop child abuse in New Zealand which has one of the highest rates of child abuse in the OECD, but why is it that the government refuses to acknowledge that child abuse begins in the womb? How can the government say that you may not abuse your child after birth but you may kill the child before it is born? Why is it a crime to smack a child while at the same time the Prime Minister promotes the Abortion Legislation bill, which allows for the violent dismemberment of a child in the womb   The Prime Minister is rightly concerned that 204 children up to the age of 14  were killed after birth since 1992. Why is she not also concerned at the more than 520,000  children violently killed before birth since 1978: they are also our children. We will not reduce our child abuse in this country until we acknowledge that abortion is violence and the ultimate in child abuse.

It is understandable that if we violate our prohibition against violence against the unborn the weakest and most defenceless members of the human family, it will weaken our prohibition of inflicting violence against the born child.

New Zealanders are deeply ashamed of our child abuse record, it is a terrible burden on the conscience of the nation. As a society we experience no difficulty in recognising child abuse and responding with horror, sorrow, grief and a determination to stop the abuse of the innocent and defenceless children. Why is it then that as a nation which is implacably opposed to child abuse we allow each day in this country the equivalent of two classrooms of children to be violently dismembered and killed in abortions in our Hospitals’ sanctioned and funded by the government? It is also violence against the mother. The government has institutionalised child abuse.

We all have a duty to defend life; it is always wrong to kill the innocent. As a nation we are suffering from a crippling and destructive  blindness, a refusal to acknowledge the truth that we have a duty to protect the lives of all children, born and unborn, they are all members of our human family and God’s precious children. Right to Life pleads with Parliament to act to protect all of our children born and unborn by defeating the Prime Minister’s abortion bill.

Ken Orr
Spokesperson,
Right to Life

Abortion Bill Legislation Committee Refusing to hear 95% of Submitters

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Media Release 10th October 2019

Right to Life believes that the Special Abortion Legislation Committee is violating the right of citizens to be heard and undermining our Parliamentary democracy.

The Committee has advised that there were more than 23,000 written submissions made to the Select Committee and that  2890 submitters made a request to have the opportunity to make an oral submission. It is believed that only 150 submitters have been granted the privilege to be heard, only 5% of that total. This is totally unacceptable in a democracy.

Hon Ruth Dyson said: “The committee welcomes hearing from a wide range of people on their views. We understand that this is a sensitive and important topic, and we look forward to engaging in a respectful and open discussion.”

Right to Life is aware that this is a special committee created by the Minister of Justice, the Hon Andrew Little for the exclusive purpose of considering this bill and submissions. This Committee has no other business and should has stated devote itself to hearing from a wide range of people on their views and engaging in a respectful and open discussion.

Those who govern should not forget that they govern with the consent of the governed. We the governed have an absolute right to be heard. This is a bill like no other in the history of our nation. It is a bill that if passed will allow hundreds of thousands of children yet to be conceived to be violently killed as “a reproductive choice for women.” It is a bill that will increase the victimisation, suffering and abandonment of women.

This bill seeks:-

  • To remove the protection of the State under the Crimes Act for women from the violence of abortion.
  • To remove the protection of the Crimes Act for the life of unborn children, so that it is no longer a crime to kill an unborn child.
  • To allow for the killing of the unborn child up to 20 weeks for any reason at the request of the mother.
  • To allow for the killing of the child up to birth at the request of the mother if a doctor considers it appropriate.

The community should be concerned and alarmed that the Minister of Justice wants this committee to act with urgency in reporting this contentious bill back to Parliament in order that it can be rushed through Parliament and passed into law before the 19 December 2019 the last sitting day for this year.

Statesman are concerned about the next generation but politicians are concerned about the next election. Next year is an election year and the government does not want to lose the support of many in the community who are passionately pro-life and opposed to this anti -life and anti-feminist bill.

There is no urgency to pass this bill. There is however urgency for the Committee to ensure that every citizen who wants to be heard, both those for and against, before the bill is reported back to Parliament by 8th February 2020.

Ken Orr,
Spokesperson,
Right to Life

Jacinda Ardern has lost the trust of the nation

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“Our success as leaders should be judged on no lesser standard than the well-being of children.” Jacina Ardern

Media Release 28th September 2019

Right to Life with deep regret believes that our appointed leader Jacinda Ardern has forfeited her right to the trust of the people of New Zealand and her right to lead this nation. Those who govern do so with the permission of the governed. We the citizens of this nation have an inalienable right to demand that our leaders act with integrity and moral rectitude.

Jacinda Ardern pledged to provide openness and accountability in government and had it enshrined in the coalition agreement. Why then is she refusing to answer questions on statements she has made in public?

The first duty of our Prime Minister is to uphold the inalienable right to life of every member of our community from conception to natural death and not to preside over our destruction. In this she has failed.

Right to Life agrees with the Prime Minister when she said on 24 September 2018, “Our success as leaders should be judged on no lesser standard than the well-being of children.”

Jacinda Ardern has betrayed the disability community. In 2017 she made a promise to the disability community in response to concerns expressed by the Saving Down’s advocacy group that the new abortion bill would remove the current 20 week prohibition and allow abortions up to birth for foetal abnormality. The Prime Minister responded, “They have said till 40 weeks, which is wrong, which is wrong. We have time periods already set out in law, I am not proposing changes to that. I am proposing it comes out of the Crimes Act.”

Right to Life asks the Prime Minister why she has directed that the Abortion Legislation Bill allow for the killing up to birth, of children who may have a disability, including Down syndrome? The current abortion legislation under the Crimes Act allows for the killing of a child before birth up to 20 weeks “where there is a substantial risk that the child, if born, would be so physically or mentally subnormal as to be seriously handicapped.” Down syndrome is considered a mild to moderate disability and Right to Life therefore protests at the killing of any of these special children who are gift to the community.

The Down syndrome community are the most persecuted community in New Zealand. According to information provided by the Minister of Health under the Official Information Act, in 2017 there were only 47 children born with Down syndrome.  It is estimated that there were 56 babies with Down syndrome who were killed before birth in 2017. Between 2009 and 2017 it is estimated that 694 children with Down syndrome were killed before birth in abortions in New Zealand.

Right to Life wrote to the Prime Minister on 26 August and asked the following questions;

  • Why the Abortion Legislation Bill does not conform to the public assurance made by you to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks for foetal abnormality?
  • Do you agree that with the statement of the Minister of Justice, Andrew Little, “I reject the notion that abortion entailed killing another human being and I accept on legal and on moral grounds that human rights do not accrue until human life is possible?”

The Prime Minister refused to answer and had her Correspondence Manager write to us on 3 September to say,”Thank you for writing to Jacinda, the matters that you raise have been noted.” Her response is deplorable and unacceptable.

The Prime Minister has failed the unborn children of New Zealand. Right to Life believes that Andrew Little’s appalling statement was made with the approval of the Prime Minister. We also contend that she believes that abortion does not kill a human being and that human rights do not assure until the baby is born. In holding this untenable and unjust position she has betrayed future generations of our children and their mothers. Her ardent promotion of her Abortion Legislation Bill is anti-life and anti-feminists.

Never before has New Zealand had a Prime Minister who is so antagonistic to women and their unborn.

Ken Orr
Spokesperson,
Right to Life

Is Jacinda Ardern heading a Dictatorship or a Democracy?

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Right to Life has been advised by a reliable source that the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice abused their authority and used their power to exert pressure on a number of Labour MPs to vote in support of the Abortion Legislation Bill at its first reading on 8th August. The Prime Minister gave an assurance on the TV 1 Breakfast programme on 6th August two days before the vote that it would be a conscience issue and that she did not know how Labour MPs would vote.

Right to Life believes that for our Prime Minister to exert pressure like this is indicative that we are living in a dictatorship and her actions are an affront to our Parliamentary democracy.

Right to Life also considers that It is simply unbelievable that she and the Minister of Justice did not know how her MP’s were going to vote.  We believe that she knew after intense lobbying exactly how many of her caucus were going to vote for this contentious anti-life bill.

Right to Life asks why the Parliamentary Press gallery who have the duty to be the watchdog for the community have remained silent?

The vote was 94 to 23. A total of 42 Labour MPs dutifully voted for the Bill, while to provide a semblance of democracy Right to Life believes that a mere four courageous MPs were permitted to break ranks and vote against the Bill. This anti-life bill  emanates from a violent culture of death, it does not compromise, it allows no opposition and destroys all in its path.

There are 17 list MPs in the Labour caucus, 16 MPs voted for the Bill and Right to Life believes that only one brave list MP was permitted to vote against the Bill.

Right to Life is passionate in  defending the right of our Parliamentarians to exercise their God given conscience in voting. It is absolutely critical for our Parliamentary democracy that Members of Parliament are not subject to coercion to subject their conscience either from outside Parliament or from those who exercise power within caucus.

List members are particularly prone to coercion from those who have power and authority within government or caucus to demand that their MPs vote as instructed, lest their names be taken off the list for the next election.

Right to Life requests that the Prime Minister give the nation a categorical assurance that Labour MPs will be allowed an absolutely free conscience vote at the second reading of the Abortion Legislation Bill.

Ken Orr
Spokesperson,
Right to Life

Poll Reveals Government has no Mandate to Impose Radical Abortion on our Nation

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Media Release 19th Sep 2019

The New Zealand government has no mandate to declare that abortion does not kill a human being with a right to life.

Neither does the government have a mandate to declare that abortion is not a crime and should be taken out of the Crimes Act.

Nor does the government have a mandate to declare that abortion is “a reproductive choice for women.”

A poll recently conducted by Curia Market Research on behalf of Right to Life reveals that the government has no mandate from the people of New Zealand to impose its radical Abortion Legislation Bill on the nation. The results emphatically reject the uninformed opinion of the Minister of Justice when he denied the humanity of the unborn child and its right to life. made in his address on the 8th August in presenting his radical anti-life Abortion bill. Andrew Little said;

“I reject the notion that abortion entailed killing another human being and I accept on legal and moral grounds that human rights do not accrue until human life is possible.”

The poll was conducted between Monday 26 August and Tuesday 10 September 2019. The sample population was aged 18 or older who were contactable by a landline or mobile phone. 1,000 respondents agreed to participate.

There were two questions asked, the first, “at what stage do you personally believe a fertilized egg becomes a human being. Choose from the following options?

At the time of conception when the egg is fertilised by sperm.
At the time of implantation when the embryo attaches to the womb.
At some point between implantation and birth.
At birth.

Results*

TimeCount%
Conception24825
Implantation14514
Between implantation & Birth26526
Birth11311
Unsure or refuse to answer23323
Total1004100

A total of 65% of the respondents believed that the unborn child became a human being between conception and prior to birth.

The second question was: – At what stage do you believe the human rights of the unborn child should be protected by New Zealand law? Answer from the following options;

At the time of conception when the egg is fertilised by sperm.
At the time of implantation when the embryo attaches to the womb.
At some point between implantation and birth.
At birth.

Results*

TimeCount%
Conception 16917
Implantation 9610
Between implantation & Birth 27728
Birth 15716
Unsure or refuse to answer 30530
Total1004100

A total of 55% of respondents believed that the human rights of the unborn child should be protected between conception and prior to birth. This refutes the proposal of the me Minister that abortion should be taken out of the Crimes Act.
The results of this poll are very similar to the results of a poll conducted in 1997 with the same questions on behalf of Right to Life.

Of those who had an opinion 51% believe that a fertilized egg becomes a human being at conception or implantation and 65% believe that the new human life becomes a human being between conception but before birth. This finding reveals that a substantial majority of New Zealanders oppose the opinion of the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, that abortion does not kill a human being.

Of those who had an opinion 77 percent believe that the human rights of the unborn should be protected by New Zealand law between conception but before birth. Again this finding reveals that the vast majority of New Zealanders oppose the opinion of the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern that our abortion laws should be liberalised.

*Note rounding of the firgues mean the percentages do not tally to exactly 100 percent.

Ken Orr,
Spokesperson,
Right to Life

                                                               

More lives would be lost, ruined

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Catherine Gillies

The following article is a guest post by Catherine Gillies.

As a post-abortion counsellor having helped facilitate the healing of many suicidal women and desperate men, I think it’s horrendous that this cruel, uncompassionate and poorly researched abortion legislation is being promoted.
For over 35 years I have heard stories of heart-break – many women are incapacitated by PTSD, or other debilitating conditions. Most women felt they had been vulnerable when they discovered their pregnancy and had no other choice but abortion. They certainly never gave informed consent!

I now work with children and grandchildren of post-abortive women. The long-term impact of that vulnerable “unchoice” is intergenerational trauma, as the living children suffer the consequences of the wounded mother’s unresolved grief for their lost children. I’ve seen mothers grieve a five-week foetus as they would a five-year-old child.

Most major international studies, and importantly, New Zealand studies, indicate abortion has detrimental long-term impacts on a woman’s mental and physical health. There is a great deal of evidence that it also impacts men severely.

The stories I hear of medical sloppiness and women being coerced and lied to about needing to make an immediate decision, whether they discover their pregnancy at five or 15 weeks gestation, are frustrating. Many are shocked to learn the legal time limit in New Zealand has been 20 weeks for the past 40 years.

Removing abortion from the Crimes Act will increase the bullying that already happens within our taxpayer-funded abortion services.

Let’s not lose sight that abortion is a multimillion-dollar business in New Zealand. It is not in the interests of the abortion industry to have informed consent, good pre-abortion counselling, or restrictions or safeguards in their businesses. Removing abortion from The Crimes Act is likely to lead to even more bullying and coercion, more heartache, and lives lost and ruined.

Studies all over the world show that women who have a history of neglect or abuse are far more likely to have abortions, as they do not have the emotional strength to listen to their own desires; they are vulnerable to bullying and coercion. The abortion makes an already vulnerable person hugely weaker, physically and psychologically.

There is a significant social cost of abortion. As a taxpayer, I am concerned how our tax dollars are spent. When taking into account the long-term detrimental impact of abortion, it is potentially the most expensive procedure on which the government spends our health budget. It is the tax system that deals with the long-term impacts.

Evidence shows there is a correlation between abortion and:

* Future mental health problems

* Increased physical health problems

* Increased rates of suicide

* Increased risk of death by homicide

* Higher rates of addictions

* Incarceration rates

* Relationship and family break down

As families and communities we can offer better solutions to vulnerable pregnancies than abortion!

Andrew Little – Advocate for the Tyranny of Violent Relativism

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Media Release 7th Sept 2019

Truth, justice and the sanctity of life ethic have no place in a nation where Parliamentary democracy has been replaced by the tyranny and violence of relativism.

The Minister of Justice, Andrew Little in response to an Official Information Act request from Right to Life advised that he had no evidence to support his opinion that the Royal Commission on Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion and Parliament were mistaken in recognising the humanity and human rights of the unborn child.

It is a stunning admission on the part of the Minister to admit that he has no evidence to show that the Royal Commission appointed by the fifth Labour government made serous errors in reporting to Parliament that human life began at conception and that the human rights of the unborn child, the weakest and most defenceless member of the human family, deserved effective legal protection.

What was true in 1977 is still true in 2019. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice have no right to reject truth and impose their ideology on the nation. There is no place for ideology in our Parliamentary democracy. We should learn from history. It was ideology that resulted in Hitler and the Nazi tyranny and it was ideology that gave us Stalin and communism and now it is the ideology of the Labour led government that is seeking to impose violence on our nation’s children by making it a ‘reproductive choice for women” to violently dismember them in their mother’s wombs.

Right to Life believes that the Minister has a serious duty to Parliament and the nation to withdraw his support for this contentious Abortion Legislation Bill which is in violation of the important findings of the Royal Commission.

The Minister in presenting the government Abortion Legislation Bill on the 8th August stated; “I reject the notion that abortion entailed killing another human being and I accept on legal and moral grounds that human rights do not accrue until human life is possible.”

The Minister is seeking to redefine who is a human being. At the direction of the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, he  is imposing on Parliament and the nation the violent tyranny of relativism which dismisses truth, justice and the sanctity of life ethic. The Minister is endeavouring to redefine what it means to be human and who may be recognised as having human rights. Relativism is a tyrant that demands complete submission. It allows no compromise, it must be resisted with all our strength. It seeks to make lies acceptable and murder respectable.

The Minister in rejecting the human rights of the unborn is denying the fundamental sanctity of life ethic and the right to be born. Right to Life requests that the Prime Minister as a woman and a loving mother take her place at the forefront in rejecting a culture of death by rejecting this bill which will impose violence on women and their unborn.

Ken Orr
Spokesperson,
Right to Life

Does Jacinda’s Child Murder Bill Violate the Treaty?

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Right to Life believes that the government’s Abortion Legislation bill violates Article three, “The protection of the Crown” of the Treaty of Waitangi.

This bill was presented to Parliament by the Minister of Justice at the direction of the Prime Minister.

The Minister Andrew Little, in introducing the Abortion Legislation Bill to Parliament on the 8th August said;

“I reject the notion that abortion entailed killing another human being and I accept on legal and on moral grounds that human rights do not accrue until human life is possible.”

This deplorable statement by the Minister is deeply offensive and insulting to women. He claims that the unborn child, an unrepeatable miracle of God’s creation, is not a human being and has no right to life.

The Crimes Act section 182 Killing an unborn child, upholds the right of the unborn child to be born. This is a human right that is universal and inalienable. It is a serious crime to kill an unborn child and on conviction an offender may be imprisoned for up to 14 years.

The Treaty was signed on 6 February 1840. Article Three of the Treaty provides for Maori the protection of the Crown and the law of England. Protection for Maori was provide by the Offences against the Persons Act 1837, which protected the right to life of every human being from implantation to natural death. Section Six of this Act prohibited the killing of an unborn child in an abortion. Under this Act the right of Maori to be born was upheld and the killing of the unborn child by abortion was prohibited.

The Labour led government acting as the Crown, is now proposing under the Abortion Legislation Bill to withdraw the protection of the Crown for the lives of unborn children. Under this legislation it would no longer be a crime to kill an unborn child in an abortion.   It is Jacinda Ardern’s intention to decriminalise abortion and to make the killing of the unborn “a reproductive choice for women.” Right to Life believes that this Abortion Bill is both anti-life and anti-women. This bill constitutes an unprecedented attack on the Treaty, a violation of human rights, and a betrayal of Maori. The government has no mandate from the electorate or from Maori for this indefensible attack on women and their precious unborn.

Right to Life laments that the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern has departed from the founding principles of the once great Labour Party of Michael Joseph Savage and Norman Kirk to protect the weak and the marginalised in society. Today the unborn child is the weakest and most defenceless member of the human family and desperately needs effective legal protection for its right to life.

Ken Orr
Spokesperson,
Right to Life.

Two Letters to two Leaders on Abortion

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26 August 2019

Hon Andrew Little MP

Minister of Justice,

Dear Minister,

Abortion Legislation Bill

Right to Life is concerned that you refuse to believe that abortion kills a human being. In introducing the Abortion Legislation Bill to Parliament on the 8th August you said;

“I reject the notion that abortion entailed killing another human being and I accept on legal and on moral grounds that human rights do not accrue until human life is possible.”

Never before in the history of the New Zealand Parliament has a Minister of Justice stood up in Parliament and declared that the unborn child is not a human being and has no human rights and that it can be killed because it is not human.

Why are you rejecting the findings of the Royal Commission on Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion appointed by the third Labour government that reported to Parliament in 1977 which stated, upholding the status of the unborn child. “The unborn child, as one of the weakest, the most vulnerable and most defenceless forms of humanity, should receive protection. From a biological point of view there is no argument as to when life begins.” It begins at conception.

Your statement  rejects the humanity of the unborn child and that it is a member of the human family. It denies that the child is the bearer of human rights, the foundation right being an inalienable right to life. A human being does not become a person at a particular stage of development following fertilization. It follows that a human person is in continuous development of potentialities and a human being has been a person since he or she began to exist at fertilization.

Right to Life questions your claim that your opinion is supported by law and morality. The long title of the Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion Act states …” abortions may be authorised only after full regard to the rights of the unborn child.” The Crimes Act section 182 which protects the right of the child to be born is titled, “Killing unborn child. If it is a child it is a human being. His statement violates the New Zealand Bill of Rights, which states, section 8. “Right not to be deprived of life.”

No one shall be deprived of life except on such grounds as are established by law and are consistent with the principles of fundamental justice. United Nations Declaration of Human Rights which affirms in Article 3, “Everyone has a right to life, liberty, and security of person.” It also violates the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which states in its preamble, “The child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.” Why are you ignoring the rights of the unborn child recognised by these laws and Conventions?

Your statement in presenting the Abortion Legislation Bill raises several very important questions. I would be grateful if you would kindly respond to the following questions.

•         You state that human rights do not accrue until human life is possible. It is acknowledged that the Crimes Act section 159 states that an unborn child does not become a human being until it is born but this is only for the purpose of the Act to differentiate between homicide and the killing of an unborn child. The World Health Organisation, the medical profession and the Royal Commission on Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion concur that human life begins at conception. Why do you then believe that human life begins at birth?

•         You state that, “on moral grounds that human rights do not accrue until human life is possible.” Christian morality recognises that an unborn child has an inalienable right to life that has been endowed on the child at conception by the Creator. Christian morality defends the right to life of the unborn. It upholds the fifth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” What moral code then do you support that proposes that human rights are not conferred until birth?

Thank you for all that you are doing to promote the common good.

Yours sincerely

Ken Orr

Secretary

26 August 2019.

Rt. Hon. Jacinda Ardern,

Prime Minister,

Parliament Building,

Wellington.

Dear Prime Minister,

Thank you for all that you are doing to reduce child poverty and child abuse in New Zealand.

In 2017 you made a promise to the disability community in response to concerns expressed by the Saving Down’s advocacy group that the new abortion bill would remove the current 20 week prohibition and allow abortions up to birth for foetal abnormality. On Newstalk breakfast programme on 11 September 2018 you stated in response, “They have said till 40 weeks, which is wrong, which is wrong. We have time periods already set out in law, I am not proposing changes to that. I am proposing it comes out of the Crimes Act.”

It is noted with great concern that the Abortion Legislation Bill presented by the Minister of Justice on 8 August 2019 excludes the current  time limit of 20 weeks prohibiting the killing of the unborn diagnosed with a grievous disability. Your government Bill contrary to the assurance that you previously publicly made allows for abortion up to birth for the unborn with Down syndrome or another disability.

I am greatly concerned that your government is encouraging the killing of the unborn who are deemed to have Down syndrome, a mild to moderate disability. Information provided by the Minister of Health under the Official Information Act reveals that in 2017 there were fifty-six babies with Down syndrome killed in an abortion before birth and an estimated forty-seven babies with Down syndrome born. The average annual abortion rate in New Zealand since 2009 for children with Down syndrome is sixty-two per cent.

It is also a matter of great concern that the Minister of Justice refuses to believe that abortion kills a human being. The Minister, in introducing the Abortion Legislation Bill to Parliament on the 8th August said; “I reject the notion that abortion entailed killing another human being and I accept on legal and on moral grounds that human rights do not accrue until human life is possible.”

Never before in the history of the New Zealand Parliament has a Minister of Justice stood up in Parliament and declared that the unborn child is not a human being and has no human rights and that it can be killed because it is not human.

Why is the Minister rejecting the findings of the Royal Commission on Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion appointed by the third Labour government that reported to Parliament in 1977 which stated, upholding the status of the unborn child. “The unborn child, as one of the weakest, the most vulnerable and most defenceless forms of humanity, should receive protection. From a biological point of view there is no argument as to when life begins.” It begins at conception.

I would be grateful if you would kindly advise me;

•         Do you agree that with the statement of the Minister of Justice, Andrew Little, “I reject the notion that abortion entailed killing another human being and I accept on legal and on moral grounds that human rights do not accrue until human life is possible?”

Why the Abortion Legislation Bill does not conform to the public assurance made by you to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks for fetal abnormality?

•         Do you agree with the findings of the Royal Commission appointed by the third Labour government concerning when human life begins and the need to protect the unborn child?

Thank you for all that you are doing to promote the common good.

Yours sincerely,

Ken Orr

Secretary

Why Has Jacinda Ardern Betrayed The Disability Sector?

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More than half of the unborn children in New Zealand with Down syndrome are killed before they are born. This is a violation of their human rights and a crime against humanity.

Right to Life believes that this is state sponsored genocide, disguised as health care, against a clearly defined group within our community.

Can the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, be trusted?  In 2017 she made a promise to the disability community in response to concerns expressed by the Saving Down’s advocacy group that the new abortion bill would remove the current 20 week prohibition and allow abortions up to birth for foetal abnormality. The Prime Minister responded, “They have said till 40 weeks, which is wrong, which is wrong. We have time periods already set out in law, I am not proposing changes to that. I am proposing it comes out of the Crimes Act.”

Right to Life asks the Prime Minister why she has directed that the Abortion Legislation Bill allow for the killing up to birth of children before birth who may have a disability, including Down syndrome? The current abortion legislation under the Crimes Act allows for the killing of a child before birth up to 20 weeks “where there is a substantial risk that the child, if born, would be so physically or mentally subnormal as to be seriously handicapped.” Down syndrome is considered a mild to moderate disability and Right to Life therefore protests at the killing of any of these special children who are gift to the community.  

The Down syndrome community are the most persecuted community in New Zealand. According to information provided by the Minister of Health under the Official Information Act. In 2017 there were only 47 children born with Down syndrome.  It is estimated that there were 56 babies with Down syndrome who were killed before birth in 2017. Between 2009 and 2017 it is estimated that 694 children with Down syndrome were killed before birth in abortions in New Zealand. 

There is an international campaign to eliminate Down syndrome by killing these children before they are born. In Europe many countries have an abortion rate for Down syndrome of 90%, in Iceland it is nearly 100%.

Government funded screening for Down syndrome and other disabilities is offered to all pregnant women in New Zealand. Right to Life believes that this screening is a search and destroy mission that promotes the belief that only the perfect have a right to life. Those women whose screening reveals a high risk of a baby with Down syndrome are offered an abortion by the government and encouraged to terminate the life of their child. This would contribute to the average annual abortion rate of 62% for Down syndrome.

The Abortion Legislation Bill driven by the Prime Minister holds that abortion does not kill an unborn child and that the child has no rights until it is born. The Prime Minister would therefore logically believe that a child with Down syndrome is not a human being and has no right to life. Right to Life asks her then: Is it your objective to encourage the extermination of children with Down syndrome in New Zealand through their violent termination up to birth?

Why are the Churches and the media silent?

Ken Orr

Spokesperson,

Right to Life

This is the website of Right to Life NZ Inc.
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