Right to Life New Zealand

Upholding the sanctity of Human life and Standing Up for the Vulnerable

Deficiencies of Extremist Abortion Legislation Exposed.

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Media Release 23 August 2021

Right to Life requests that the Minister of Health, Andrew Little take urgent action to remedy a grave deficiency in the Abortion Legislation Act 2020, designed by the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern and draughted by him. The abortion law should be amended to require that two medical practitioners agree that it is “appropriate” to kill the child from 20 weeks gestation before birth.

 It is now confirmed that killing unborn children in late term abortions after 20 weeks requires only the approval the abortionist. The approval of no other medical practitioner is required.

The Ministry of Health have advised Right to Life that in 2020 there were 120 abortions of children at 20 weeks to 39 weeks gestation. It is not known how many of these abortions were considered “inappropriate” and therefore unlawful by other medical practitioners.

Right to Life believes that it is always morally wrong to kill another innocent human being. Every unborn child is a child of God and endowed at conception with an inalienable right to life. It is never right to murder a child before it is born. This is violence against the child and its mother.

Right to Life has received a response to its Official Information Act from the Ministry of Health dated 17th August 2021.

The Abortion Legislation Act 2020, Section 11 [2] [a] requires that a doctor who considers an abortion “appropriate” is required to consult at least one other health practitioner.

The Ministry advises that the doctor who considers it appropriate to kill the unborn child is not legally obliged to find another health practitioner who agrees to the killing of the child.

It is now clear that as long as the abortionist believes that the killing is appropriate there is nothing that the Ministry of Health, any other health practitioner, nor District Health Board or abortion provider can do to prevent the child being killed. This is an appalling injustice and a crime against humanity.

Under the previous abortion legislation in the Crimes Act 1961, Section 187, all abortions were required to be approved by two doctors who were required to sign and complete form ASC 3 providing information on which grounds they were authorising any abortion.

Under the new legislation, the abortionist is required to complete an Abortion Notification Advice. It requires no information on why the abortion is considered “appropriate” nor is the name of the doctor they consulted required,  nor whether they agreed with the decision of the first doctor on killing of the child. Why is the Ministry of Health refusing to collect this important information?

Right to Life is appalled at the dire plight of late term unborn children.

Who will speak up in defence of these innocent and defenceless children who can be murdered by an abortionist, with nobody being empowered to stop them?

Neither the Ministry of Health, other doctors or the District Health Board or the abortion provider that employs them will speak up for the unborn child.

Ken Orr,

Spokesperson,

Right to Life

Fees Paid to NZ’s Busiest Abortion Certifying Consultants year to June 2019

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Right to Life regulary asks the Abortion Supervisory Committee under the Official Information Act how much money is paid to the men and women who approve the abortion of our unborn children. Here below is the information requested and the answers provided.

We wish to request under the Official Information Act the following information: – For the year ending 30 June 2019 for each of the twenty busiest certifying consultants the amount in fees received, the number of requests for abortion justified and the number not justified

Referred for your information is this important information on the twenty busiest abortion certifying consultants. Please click here or on the graphic to view the full ASC response in PDF format.

Right to Life notes that there is a wide variation in the numbers of women who are declined an abortion. There is no information available on why requests are declined, however it is our view that some consultants are reluctant to approve an abortion when they have evidence that the woman is being coerced with threats of violence and abandonment. We have been advised by the ASC that the “not justified” also includes women who fail to turn up for an abortion on the appointed day.

The highest paid consultant was paid $177K for authorising the killing of 1,197 unborn children while only turning down 2 requests.

There are more than 11,000 doctors registered in New Zealand, around 3,500 being general practitioners.  Right to Life applauds those doctors who are faithful to their medical ethics by upholding the right to life of their unborn patients and protecting the health and welfare of mothers facing an unplanned pregnancy.

Abortions kill innocent and helpless unborn children, they also damage women’s physical and mental health and may cause the mother a lifetime of grief and sorrow. Doctors who authorise and perform abortions may genuinely believe that they are acting in the best interest of women. It is however always wrong to kill the innocent. The unborn are also patients. Abortion violates the human rights of unborn children who are the weakest and most defenceless members of the human family.

Right to Life urges these doctors to promote a culture of life by respecting the right to life of the unborn and to refuse to authorise or execute their killing. Right to Life calls upon them to promote open adoption as the loving option.

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!

Abortion Supervision Committee should be sacked

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ASC Committee pictured at the review of the ASC by the Justice Select Committee March 2018

Right to Life calls upon the Minister of Justice to dismiss the Abortion Supervisory Committee [ASC], that presides over the abortion industry. We call for it to be replaced with a Committee that will fulfil its statutory duties as laid out in section 14 of the Contraception Sterilisation Act 1977. [1] [a] To keep under review all the provisions of the abortion law, and the operation and effect of those provisions in practice.

Right to Life contends that the ASC is not fulfilling those duties. The Committee, which comprises, three persons two of whom are required to be medical practitioners should, in the opinion of Right to Life, be persons who actually recognise that the unborn child has a right to life as was legislated for in the long title of the Contraception, Steralisation and Abortion Act 1977. The long title of the Act states …

ASC Committee pictured at the review of the ASC by the Justice Select Committee March 2018.
“to provide for the circumstances and procedures under which abortions may be authorised after having full regard to the rights of the unborn child.”

The ASC has failed to act in the best interest of vulnerable women and their precious unborn. Right to Life believes they have failed to uphold the legislative statutes and do not recognise the unborn child as a human being or the harm being done to women. The ASC comprises, Professor Dame Linda Holloway, Dr Tangimoana Habib  who were reappointed by the Governor General on 2 October 2015.  Ms Carolyn Mcilrath, the third member, was also appointed on that day. The CS & A Act stipulates that the appointment is for a term of three years. Their term is now complete, yet the Minister of Justice has failed to initiate the process to replace these members.

Right to Life should not have to be the watchdog to ensure this happens and we now request that the Minister of Justice begin this process. We also call for these members to be replaced by persons who recognise the humanity of the unborn and their right to life. Could the reason the Minister has not already made appointments be that he hopes that Jacinda Ardern’s proposal to remove Abortion from the Crimes Act will obviate the need for even having an Abortion Supervisory Committee?

The ASC which believes that, ” we should have legislation that enables women to make choices about their own bodies,”  responded to an Official Information Act request from Right to Life on 25 February and advised that the Committee did not have a policy to;-

  • Recognise that the unborn child had a right to life and a right to be born.
  • Recognise that the unborn child had a right to life and a right to be born.
  • Accept that it was a crime to kill an unborn child in contravention of the Crimes Act section 182 and 183.

Right to Life believes that it is totally unacceptable to have a Committee that does not recognise the humanity of the unborn child and its inalienable right to life and that its killing is a crime against humanity.

Why did we condemn Nazi Germany for its “final solution” for exterminating the Jews when we are now following its example with our state funded “final solution” to exterminate “unwanted” unborn children.

Ken Orr
Spokesperson,
Right to Life

Simon Bridges – “Abortion is rare, safe and legal”

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Image result for simon bridgesMedia Release 2nd June 2018

The leader of the National Party stated on TVNZ 1’s Breakfast programme on Thursday 31 May, that he would “be loath to” remove abortion from New Zealand’s Crimes Act, saying the law as it stands is working. “Practically speaking, we have several thousand abortions per year here. “I would argue actually, in reality, it is rare, safe and legal.”… “ My argument is .. what’s wrong with the law as it’s working today?”                       

Right to Life commends Simon Bridges for opposing abortion being taken out of the Crimes Act as is planned by the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Supporting abortion as rare, safe and legal however is not a pro-life or pro-women position. Rather it is an illusion and a subterfuge that is used by many politicians to avoid opposing the violence against women and the killing of our innocent and defenceless unborn children. We cannot placate the pro-death movement by accepting the killing of any child before birth. 

Parliament is ultimately responsible for the performance of the abortion laws in New Zealand. How can any Member say with a clear conscience, “what’s wrong with the law as it is working today” when 12,000 children are being violently murdered each year, totalling more than 500,000 since 1978?

One baby is killed for every four that are born.  This is genocide and a crime against humanity.

Abortion is not safe for the child which is violently dismembered in its mother’s womb. Nor is it safe for the mother who is often left with a lifetime of regret, sorrow, pain potential infertility, and an increased risk of breast cancer and in future pregnancies, miscarriages and premature deliveries. [Read more…]

Official Complaint to Press Council Re: Newsroom’s Thomas Coughlan’s “Labour moves to legalise abortion”

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Because the Newsroom, in accordance with the requirements of the Press Council, in relation to official complaints, have refused to even acknowledge or respond to our formal complaint to them in February this year, concerning the factual inaccuracies and lack of balance presented in an article by Thomas Coughlan of the above title, Right to Life has written to the Press Council.

The following post documents correspondence

29th May 2018

Press Council.

Dear Mary,

Official Complaint- Newsroom

I wish to lodge a formal complaint against the Newsroom for an article written by Thomas Coughlan titled “Labour moves to legalise abortion” that was published on 16 February 2018. My complaint is that the article breached the Council’s Principle 1. Accuracy, Fairness and Balance

A complaint was laid with Newsroom on 21 February. As there was no response received, a further letter was sent on 20 April. [Read more…]

Family Planning’s Continuing War on Women

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The Family Planning Association [FPA] in its submission to the Law Commission support the proposal of the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to take abortion out of the Crimes Act and to treat abortion as a health issue that is a reproductive choice for women, rather than as a criminal issue. The unborn child has no human rights until it is born. It should no longer be a crime to kill an unborn child. 

The FPA with the requested law change intends, “to further develop abortion services to meet the needs of the community”. It would be a catastrophe for women and their defenceless unborn if the FPA developed its 29 clinics in New Zealand into killing centres. 

The FPA claim that the current abortion legislation, “is no longer fit for purpose from both a health and human rights perspective. Women’s lives and status in society have changed since the 1970s.”

Right to Life obtained their submission from the Law Commission under the Official Information Act.  The FPA submit that it is no longer necessary to have abortions authorised by two certifying consultants or for abortions to be performed in licensed hospitals or clinics. The Association believes that most surgical and medical abortions can be performed in community and primary care clinics including FPA clinics, with no specialised facilities required.

The FPA in its submission have:-

  • Rejected the duty of the State to protect the lives of the unborn, its future citizens.
  • Believes that life begins at birth and accepts the killing of the unborn up to birth for any reason including that the child was the wrong sex.
  • Accepted the killing of those those with Down syndrome, up to birth.
  • Accepted abortion up to birth for socio-economic reasons.

Right to Life asks the FPA how do you reconcile your claim to be advocates for women when you support the killing of women in the womb ? [Read more…]

Abortion not a reproductive health issue

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Image result for jacinda ardernThe Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, in February directed the Minister of Justice to instruct the Law Commission to make changes to “ensure our abortion laws are consistent with treating abortion as a health issue that is a reproductive choice for women, rather than as a criminal issue.”

The operative words are health and choice. The inference is that this review is all about protecting and promoting women’s health. Right to Life challenges this assertion and asks how is women’s health going to be promoted by decriminalising abortion? 

It certainly is not health care for the unborn who are violently torn limb from limb in what should be the sanctuary of their mother’s womb and it is not health care for women who are physically, psychologically and emotionally wounded and left with lifelong grief, remorse and sorrow at the loss of their precious child. Why then does the Prime Minister call this callous violence against women and the murder of the innocent health care? [Read more…]

Government Should Cease forcing Taxpayers to Fund Murder of the Unborn

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Media Release Saturday 5th May 2018

Right to Life asks when is the government going to recognise the right of taxpayers to choose not to fund the murder of the innocent and defenceless unborn? It is arrogant for the state to assume that we all support the state funded abortion industry: We do not.

It is a massive injustice for the government to force all who pay tax to fund the murder of our own children in the womb. The government is tyranical in forcing us to be complicit in the murder of the innocent and to have their blood on our hands. The government has placed us in chains and compels us to pay with the threat of imprisonment for up to five years for those who dare to refuse.

Again we cannot state enough that It is utterly objectionable that taxpayers’ money is being used to end the lives of thousands of unborn children despite the conscientious objection to this practice by a significant number of New Zealanders.

The Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and supporters of this culture of death claim that it is a woman’s right to choose to kill her child as a “reproductive choice for women”. She claims that this must be a right without regulation or interference from anyone else including the father of the child and at the same time she denies the taxpayer the right to choose to not to be complicit in this killing.

We ask Jacinda Ardern when is she going to allow the community the right to choose not to pay taxes to fund her government’s abortion industry. [Read more…]

Dr Helen Paterson – A Threat to Women and the Unborn

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Image result for Dr Helen Paterson NZMedia release  Tuesday 17th October 2017

Right to Life questions the anti-life philosophy of Dr Helen Paterson, a certifying consultant and presumed abortionist of Dunedin. Dr Paterson in a letter to the Abortion Supervisory Committee [ASC]  in July stated, ”I feel the prospect of a government body passing judgment on the reasons that a citizen might seek an abortion does violence to the dignity of that citizen and breaches her natural right to bodily autonomy and moral agency.”

This is an appalling statement from Dr Paterson who is a highly trained Obstetrician and Gynaecologist. She has been trained to provide professional care for mothers and their precious unborn children. Right to Life questions how can she provide proper professional care for women and their unborn when she embraces a flawed and dangerous philosophy that is anti-women and anti-life. In making such statements Right to Life questions how the Abortion Supervisory Committee can maintain her appointment as an Abortion Certifying Consulatant, given her statements are directly antithetical to section 30 [5] [b] of the Contraception Sterilisation & Abortion Act 1977,

[Read more…]

This is the website of Right to Life NZ Inc.
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