Media Release 20 July 2020
Since the introduction of the contraceptive pill into New Zealand in 1961 the government has been unwittingly funding a war on women, children and the family.
Wednesday 11 July was World Population Day which focused on the importance of population issues. To mark the day the New Zealand Parliamentarians’ Group on Population and Development (NZPPD) issued a media release to draw attention to the human rights linked to sexual and reproductive health. Right to Life questions the NZPPD’s focus on sexual and reproductive health which includes the promotion of contraception, sterilisation, abortion and sex education.
It is disappointing that the NZPPD does not recognise that contraception, sterilisation and abortion represent violence against women. A genuine feminist position that supports the dignity and human rights of women would be seeking to protect women from this culture of violence and death.
The Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern supports the war on women with contraception, sterilisation and abortion. She was the architect of the Abortion Legislation Act 2020 which makes it no longer a crime to kill an unborn baby. In response to an Official Information Act request from Right to Life, she advised that she had no policy to support a birth rate of 2.1 or to promote marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman.
Contraception. sterilisation and abortion will not make women free but slaves to men who refuse to honour the dignity of women who are called by our Creator to co-operate with Him in creating new life.
Women have an absolute right to decide if and when they wish to become pregnant. Why is it in the interest of women to take powerful drugs which simulate a permanent pregnancy in the body in order that they are available to men?
Contraception is a serious threat to the future of this nation. The governments continued promotion and funding of contraception is contributing to the destruction of our community. It is disappointing that the NZPPD does not recognise that New Zealand is facing a demographic crisis. Our birth rate is a catastrophic 1.89 and has been in decline since 1960. In 1959 our birth rate was a commendable 4.026. We believe that It was the introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1961 which was the cause of the birth rate dramatically declining to 2.055 in 1981 to below replacement level. This is a population crisis, why is the NZPPD, Parliament and the government not concerned?
Contributing to the population crisis is the dramatic decline in traditional marriages which are exclusively between one woman and one man. Our marriage rate at 9.8 per 1,000 persons over the age of 16 in 2019 was the lowest since 1960, the peak was 45.5 in 1971. Contraception has adversely affected marriage as men can now have ready access to women without the need to make a permanent commitment to women in marriage.
There is a correlation between a decline in marriage rates and an impact on children and families. A reduction in marriage rates could have a negative social impact on children with an increase in child poverty and abuse. Why is the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, the Minister for Child Poverty Reduction not concerned?
If the government is really serious about population issues why is it not addressing the crisis that confronts us?
Ken Orr,
Spokesperson,
Right to Life
Authorised by Philip Creed, 28 Ensors Road, Christchurch