Media Release 17th October 2013
Right to Life asks when is Parliament going to demand that the Abortion Supervisory hold certifying consultants accountable for the lawfulness of the abortions that they authorise. Dame Linda Holloway, the chairwoman of the committee, was quoted in a revealing statement in the Sunday Star Times on 13 October, that the Committee does not support any attempts to change the abortion law for fear that it might be more restrictive of the killing of the unborn.
Dame Holloway said that any move towards liberalisation would be a,
"difficult political argument and from a pro choice position it doesn’t really matter." and..
"The chances of changing the abortion laws in New Zealand at this time are sub-zero. At the moment we have assured successive ministers of justice that we can operate under the law as it is. “ and ..
"If we start opening the whole thing up to do new legislation my concern is that we might end up with something that is worse than what we have got. The chances of that are quite high." Dame Holloway said she would prefer to "soldier on". "If I thought we could get a perfect world I would be all for it."
Dame Holloway states that,” from a pro choice position it doesn’t really matter." Why does it not matter? Because, with the active support of the Committee we have had since 1978, seen the killing of the unborn on request, with every woman who seeks an abortion having one, sanctioned and funded by the state.