Right to Life New Zealand

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

Why is Andrew Little Ignoring the Findings of A Royal Commission?

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Media Release 1 November 2018

The Minister of Justice is not serving the best interests of women and the unborn by ignoring the learned findings of the Royal Commission on Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion which made the following conclusions in its report to Parliament in 1977.

 The Minister has a serious duty to tell the nation why he considers that his opinion, devoid of any evidence, should override the following important and authoritative conclusions of a Royal Commission established by the Right Hon Bill Rowling, Prime Minister of the third Labour government.

•          “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. Evidence was given to us by eminent scientists from all over the world. None of them suggested that human life begins at any other time than at conception”

•          “From implantation to birth, changes which take place in the unborn child are of a developmental nature only. There are no changes of a qualitative nature. The three events suggested as being of significance, namely quickening, viability and brain development are no more than stages in that development and are not indicative of any qualitative changes in the developing fetus which would make it non-human.”

•          In rejecting the argument that some degree of development should be reached before the unborn child be accorded status the Commission said, “If some stage of physical or mental development has to be accepted as indicating whether or not human life is in being, so a stage may be reached at the other end of life where a person who has become senile or has lost consciousness may be disposed of.”

•          The Commission rejected abortion at the request of the mother, as it would then accord to the unborn child only that status which the individual woman herself choose to give it.

•          The Commission recognised that abortion was violence against women and the unborn, and supported the retention of section 182, Killing of Unborn Child in the Crimes Act, stating that it was necessary to differentiate between homicide and the crime of abortion, the killing of an unborn child.

Right to Life asks the Minister:  What evidence do you have that the findings of the Royal Commission were wrong and are not relevant in 2018?

The Minister is of the opinion that abortion should be taken out of the Crimes Act, but he can produce no evidence to substantiate his claim that the killing of an unborn child in an abortion should no longer be a crime.

Does the ill-informed opinion of the Minister now override justice?

Ken Orr

Spokesperson,

Right to Life

Law Commission’s Law Review Betrays Women and the Unborn

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Media Release 26 October 2018

The Law Commission’s report portrays a day of infamy, betrayal, shameful injustice and the denial of the dignity of women and of motherhood. It is also a callous denial of the humanity of our precious unborn and their inalienable right to life. Shame on this government that tramples on the human rights of our precious unborn and the right of women to be protected from the violence of abortion, it has forfeited its right to govern.

The report of the Law Commission on recommendations for taking abortion law out of the Crimes Act and treating it as a health issue, was presented to the Minister of Justice. The review had been requested by the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, who has abandoned protecting women.

The government has no mandate from the people of New Zealand to remove women and their unborn from the protection of the Crimes Act. There is to be no public consultation or debate about the contents of the review prior to the government presenting a bill to Parliament.

The Law Commission have advised Right to Life under the Official Information Act that there were 3,419 submissions received on the review of the abortion laws in New Zealand. There were 1,677 submissions opposed to removing women and their unborn children from the protection of the Crimes Act, which since 1856 has recognised the killing of an unborn child in an abortion as a serious crime and violence against women. There were only 603 submissions that supported making the killing of an unborn child in abortions a health issue and a choice for women. The authentic feminist position is to oppose the decriminalisation of abortion.

A huge majority of the submissions, 69 %, were opposed to the decriminalisation of abortion, with 49 % specifically supporting retaining abortion in the Crimes Act with an additional 20% supporting legal protection for the child in the womb. The remaining 13% did not address the issue of decriminalisation.

The three legal models presented by the Commission represent an unprecedented attack on the sanctity of life of the unborn child, the weakest and most defenceless member of our human family. These proposals constitute an unprincipled denial of the humanity of the child in the womb.

The models proposed provide for the unborn, deemed by the mother as unwanted, to be removed from the protection of the Crimes Act, Part VIII Crimes against the person which recognises abortion as violence against the mother and the unborn. It states that abortion is a serious crime that on conviction the accused may be imprisoned for up to 14 years. The models provide for the killing of the unborn, effectively up to birth, to be a reproductive health issue of choice for the woman.

It will then be no longer a crime to kill an unborn child, but a health service. This is a blatant lie perpetrated on women.

It is the duty of the state to protect the lives of every member of our community from conception to natural death and not to preside over their destruction. The decriminalisation of abortion will allow the government to declare that they have no interest in protecting the lives of New Zealanders in the first nine months of their lives and that they are prepared to  preside over their destruction.

The Law Commission proposes that doctors “who do not wish to provide health services in connection with abortion because of a conscientious objection to refer women to someone who can provide the service.” The unborn child is a patient and doctors have an absolute right to refuse to be involved in the killing of another human being.

The government admits that it has no evidence to substantiate the claim that in a modern society it should not be a crime to kill an unborn child.The government intends to replace truth and justice with personal opinion, which is the basis of the advocacy of the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern and the Hon. Andrew Little for the decriminalisation of abortion.

Right to Life requests that the Labour Party return to the high social principles of its founders to uphold the sanctity of life ethic and to protect the lives of the most vulnerable members of our community.

Ken Orr

Spokesperson,

Right to Life

Abortion Violence is Not a Health Issue Jacinda Ardern

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The state has a duty to protect women and their unborn from violence. In 1856 the New Zealand Parliament recognised that abortion was violence against both women and the unborn and made abortion unlawful under the Crimes Act, Part VIII Crimes against the Person. Abortion was recognised as a serious crime in the Common Law of England. 

The Labour led government of Jacinda Ardern under the guise of empowering women is proposing to decriminalise abortion and disguise the violence by calling it a “health service” this is not empowerment but slavery. 

Abortion is not health care. The government’s proposal is a shameful abandonment of women and will expose women to increased violence. This cruel deception of women perpetrated by the government is deceiving women into believing that their unborn child has no value and that the state has no interest in protecting her or her defenceless unborn. Their claim is that, when we kill an unborn child, we do no harm as it is not a human being and it therefore has no rights.

Vulnerable women will be exposed to increased coercion, physical and sexual violence from the father of their children who will be empowered to impose pressure on women to terminate the life of their children. This is because for the many women who are facing coercion to abort their child against their will, they will, if abortion is no longer a crime, have even less power to resist the coercion of the father or those pushing them in the direction of killing. Arguments such as “it’s only a health issue”, will be used against the mother. [Read more…]

Overwhelming support for retaining protection of the Crimes Act for the lives of women and the unborn

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Media Release 14 October 2018

A huge majority, 69 %, were opposed to the decriminalisation of abortion, with 49 % specifically supporting retaining abortion in the Crimes Act with an additional 20% supporting legal protection for the child in the womb. The remaining 31% did not address the issue of decriminalisation.

The Law Commission have advised Right to Life under the Official Information Act that there were 3,419 submissions received on the review of the abortion laws in New Zealand. There were 1,677 submissions opposed to removing women and their unborn children from the protection of the Crimes Act which since 1856 has recognised the killing of an unborn child in an abortion as a serious crime and violence against women. There were only 603 submissions that supported making the killing of an unborn child in abortions a health issue and a choice for women. The authentic feminist position is to oppose the decriminalisation of abortion.

There were 1,139 submissions that did not address this issue, of these 671 expressed support for legal protection for the lives of unborn children. The Minister of Justice at the direction of the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had requested the Commission on February 27 to provide advice, “how best to make changes to ensure New Zealand’s 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 Commission was to give no consideration to the sanctity of life of the unborn and the right to life nor to comment on the duty of the state to protect the lives of our unborn.  

The overwhelming opposition to decriminalisation expressed in these submissions provides a clear message to the Prime Minister and her government that they do not have a mandate from the people of New Zealand to remove the protection of the law for the lives of vulnerable women and their unborn children.

The people of New Zealand should be aware that the government is using the Law Commission review as a subterfuge to give legitimacy to Jacinda Ardern’s unprecedented attack on women and their precious unborn, she is determined to inflict on women the appalling lie that women have a “right” to kill their own children as an issue of choice.

Prime Minister, as a loving mother with a beautiful child, you are aware in every fibre of your being that the killing of a defenceless child in the womb is an unspeakable crime. Why are you not at the forefront in opposing the decriminalisation of abortion.

Right to Life lodged Official Information Act requests with the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister asking what “ information that you have that would justify changing the law to make it no longer a crime to kill an unborn child in an abortion.” The reply from the Prime Minister was that there was no evidence.

The Minister of Justice in his reply, produced no information to support his claim and said that “my personal view is that abortion should be treated as a health issue and not a criminal one.”

Right to Life wrote to all government MPs on 9 August asking them what evidence did they have to support the government’s claim that abortion, the killing of the unborn child should no longer be a crime, not one MP produced any evidence.

The community should be aware that the Law Commission was precluded by the Minister of Justice from giving any consideration to the findings of the authoritative and respected report of the Royal Commission on Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion given to Parliament in 1977. This Commission recognised that human life began at conception and from implantation deserved the protection of the law for its right to life. It recognised that there was no stage in the development of the unborn child when it should not be recognised as a human being.

Right to Life earnestly requests the government to reaffirm the duty of the state to protect the lives of all from conception to natural death by retaining abortion in the Crimes Act. It should always be a crime to kill an unborn child.

Ken Orr

Spokesperson,

Right to Life

Overwhelming Majority of Submissions to Law Commission Oppose Decriminalisation of the Killing of Unborn

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Media Release 15 August 2018

The Law Commission under the Official Information Act has released to Right to Life information on the written submissions received by the Law Commission from the community on the review of the abortion laws in New Zealand.

 The President of the Law Commission, Sir Douglas White has advised Right to Life on 14 August, that a total of 3,419 submissions have been received. The issue was set out by the Minister of Justice, Andrew Little in a letter to Sir Douglas dated 27 February; The government is considering how best to ensure New Zealand’s abortion laws are consistent with treating abortion as a health issue. It was the wish of the Prime Minister that abortion be taken out of the Crimes Act and treated as “a reproductive choice for women.” The killing of the unborn child was no longer going to be treated as a crime.

 A total of 73.5 per cent of submissions which addressed the issue, opposed the decriminalisation of abortion and only 26.5 per cent of submissions which addressed the issue supported the decriminalisation of abortion.

Of the 2,278 submissions which addressed the issue, the Commission identified 603 that supported treating abortion as a health issue and/or removing abortion from the Crimes Act and 1,675 as opposing changes to the current criminal offences and/or opposing decriminalisation. The remaining 1,141 submissions did not address the issue. We are advised by the Law Commission that many of these 1,141 submissions supported protection for the unborn child and their mothers, this group will be summarised and the summary will be provided to the Minister of Justice in October. In the meantime there will be no information provided to the public on this summary until the Minister is advised.

Right to Life believes that this information provides conclusive evidence that the majority of the community are adamantly opposed to treating the killing of defenceless unborn children as a health issue and support protection for the lives of our unborn provided by the Crimes Act in sections 182, Killing of Unborn Child and 183 Procuring abortion by any means.

Right to Life earnestly requests that the government recognise and acknowledge that the government has no mandate from the people of New Zealand to remove the unborn who are classified as “unwanted “ from the protection of the Crimes Act where they have been protected since 1856, in order that it might facilitate the killing of these children as a health issue.

Right to Life also encourages the government to recognise that the first and only duty of government is to protect the lives of every member of the community from conception to natural death and not to preside over their destruction. It should recognise that the unborn child is the weakest and most defenceless member of the human family and deserves our respect and effective legal protection. Pregnancy is not a disease and abortion is not health care. It should also recognise that the sexualisation of our youth with Family Planning style comprehensive sex education programmes and the seductive “safe sex” message is promoting promiscuity, pregnancies outside of marriage and abortions.

 

Ken Orr

Spokesperson,

Right to Life

 

Is Jacinda Ardern’s government in breach of the Treaty of Waitangi?

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Media Release 30 July 2018

 

 Right to Life believes that Jacinda Ardern is in breach of Article Three of the Treaty of Waitangi. Jacinda Ardern proposes that abortion, the killing of the unborn, should be taken out of the Crimes Act and treated as a “reproductive issue of choice for women”. It is her belief and that of her government that the killing of children before birth should not be a crime, this includes Maori children.

When the Treaty was signed in 1840, the Crown gave an assurance that Maori would have the Queen’s protection. It is believed that that protection was to include protection for the right to life of Maori from implantation to natural death, which was provided by the common law of England and carried on in the New Zealand Crimes Act since 1856.

The Crimes Act section 182. “Killing Unborn Child” provides protection for the life of the unborn including Maori. It is a serious crime to kill an unborn child and on conviction a person may be imprisoned for a term up to 14 years. Section 183. “Procuring abortion by any means” prohibits unlawful abortion, this is also a serious crime and every one on conviction, is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years. This section also states that; “the woman or girl shall not be charged as a party to an offence against this section.” This legal protection for the lives of unborn children has been in the Crimes Act since 1856.It would be a great injustice for the government to remove this protection.

Why does Jacinda Ardern believe that it should not be a crime to kill an innocent and defenceless Maori unborn child?

It is the government’s intention to make it no longer a crime to kill an unborn child in an abortion. Those children who are classified as unwanted will be taken out of the Crimes Act in order that they may be killed as a health service and  as a “reproductive choice for women” These children will effectively lose the protection of the Crown. The children who are wanted will retain the protection of the Crimes Act and the protection of the Crown.

The decriminalisation of abortion would be a violation of the human rights of all unborn children including Maori and an attack on the dignity of Maori mothers, it would be a statement from the state that we have no interest in protecting the life of your child or protecting you from the violence of abortion, the child is your property and it is your choice whether the child lives or is killed. If we followed the Victorian model, abortion for any reason, is available up to 24 weeks if a doctor agrees. Abortion from 25 weeks to birth is available for any reason if two doctors believe that an abortion is desirable. Victoria effectively has abortion on demand up to birth.

The abortion rate for Maori is disturbing. In 2017 there were 13,285 abortions reported in New Zealand, 3,111 of these abortions were on Maori women. I believe that if abortion is decriminalised it will result in more pressure and coercion imposed on Maori women to terminate the life of their child by the fathers of the child who threaten to abandon the mother if she does not have an abortion.

Ken Orr

Spokesperson,

Right to Life

Every Women has a right to life, a right to be born and a right to vote

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Image result for kate sheppardMedia Release 10th June 2018

Every woman has a right to life, a right to be born and the right to vote.

This year we celebrate the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand.  On 19 September 1893, the Electoral Act 1893 was passed, giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote.  As a result of this landmark legislation, New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world in which all women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections. 

Every woman has a right to vote, this victory was won by heroic women like Kate Sheppard (pictured), who campaigned courageously to achieve this right. It is a violation of human rights that today thousands of New Zealand women are denied the right to vote. Not only the right to vote, but they are being denied their right to life and the right to be born. Every year 12,000 New Zealand children are killed in the womb, which includes nearly 6,000 innocent and defenceless women who are violently killed. Since 1978, more than 250,000 women were killed before birth. How then can we claim that we are promoting the equality of women and that we are leading the world in promoting the rights of women?

How many of the over 250,000 women killed before birth since 1977, would have been among our Members of Parliament and would have been the mothers of future generations of New Zealanders? We should weep for our children lost and for their mothers whose abortion was a cry for help unheeded by our community which sadly believes that abortion is a health service.

Why does the Prime Minister not support the right to life of all women and their right to be born and their right to vote?

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has marked International Women’s Day on 8th March with a plea for Kiwis to keep “pressing for progress”.

“Here in NZ we’re celebrating 125 years of women’s suffrage. We have, right now, in our Parliament the greatest representation of women we’ve ever had,” she said.

“There is change that we still need. Let’s remember that true equality is achieved when women are free from violence and when they have financial security.”

How can the Prime Minister be sincere about celebrating women’s suffrage when women are not only being denied the right to vote but being denied the right to life and the right to be born? How can she claim to oppose violence inflicted on women when she supports such mega-violence against women in the womb by the decriminalisation of abortion?

Why is she now blindly committed to inflicting increased violence on women by having children both male and female in the womb removed from the Crimes Act, so that it will no longer a crime to kill a child before birth? She is now determined to have the killing of unborn children treated not as a justice issue but “as a health issue that is a reproductive choice for women, rather than as a criminal issue.“

It is an appalling tragedy for the cause of women’s equality that the Prime Minister who is herself with child, will by her actions increase violence against women under the pretext that the abortion of a woman before birth for any reason is not a crime, but a health issue.

It is the earnest hope of Right to Life that the birth of her lovingly nurtured and protected child will be a cause of joy and happiness and the realisation that every child is a unique and unrepeatable miracle of God’s creation who should be respected and protected.

Ken Orr

Spokesperson,

Right to Life.

The honouring of Catherine Healy with Knighthood offensive to women  

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Right to Life believes that the honouring of Catherine Healy, National co-ordinator of the NZ Prostitutes Collective with a knighthood, “for services to the rights of sex workers”, is deeply offensive to the women of New Zealand.

The award was made by Her Majesty the Queen on the recommendation of the Cabinet Appointments and Honours Committee chaired by the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. The Right Hon Winston Peters also sits on this Committee. 

Right to Life asks the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern how she is promoting the dignity and equality of women by honouring the woman who assisted in drafting the Prostitution Reform Act, which has inflicted violence, degradation and exploitation on women? 

It is making a public statement that our women are for sale and signifies that the government approves and supports young women selling their bodies to men to be sexually assaulted for their sexual satisfaction; this is slavery. It supports men living off the earnings of prostitutes and women prostituting themselves on the streets. It supports paid sexual attacks on women as work. There have been at least four young women prostitutes brutally murdered since the passing of the infamous Prostitution Reform Act in 2003. Prostitution and abortion both come from a culture of death, they both inflict violence on innocent women. Women deserve to be respected as the bearers of new life and the mothers of the next generation. 

How many women must be murdered before Parliament repeals this appalling Act? [Read more…]

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…]

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…]

This is the website of Right to Life NZ Inc.
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