Right to Life New Zealand

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

Right to Life OIA to Jacinda Ardern

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9 January 2019

Right. Hon Jacinda Ardern,

Prime Minister,

Dear Prime Minister,

Official Information Act –Request.

At the Newstalk ZB’s Leader’s Breakfast just prior to the election you made the following statement.

“Yes I think abortion should come out of the Crimes Act, that does not mean for a moment that I am proposing what has been claimed, that you should be able to have on-demand abortion to birth. No that is absolutely not what I am saying. We of course must regulate… We have time periods already set out in the law and I am not proposing changes to that. I am proposing it comes out of the Crimes Act.”

The restriction of 20 weeks gestation is included in the Crimes Act section 187A and stipulates that abortions after 20 weeks may be authorised if;

“the person doing the act believes that the miscarriage is necessary to save the life of the woman or girl or to prevent serious permanent injury to her physical or mental health.”

Curia Market Research an independent pollster released in January 2018, polling of 1,013, just 9% support the current legal limit for an abortion of 20 weeks. Only 4% believe it should be later than 20 weeks, including up to birth. 50% think the time limit should be shorter than the current 20 weeks, and a further 36% were unsure. The median choice of those who did choose a time limit was 15 weeks.

Significantly, 56% of women think the time limit should be less than the current 20 weeks. And incredibly, 53% of those who generally support abortion think the time limit should be less than the current 20 weeks – 29% of abortion supporters say 10 weeks or less.

I wish to request under the Official Information Act the following information;

  • Is it still your policy to retain a restriction on abortions imposed at 20 weeks gestation in the Crimes Act section 187A in your proposed legislation to decriminalise abortion?
  • Is it your policy to accept dismemberment abortions that permit an abortionist to tear the arms, legs and head off an unborn child?
  • Is it your policy to ensure that babies born alive from 22 weeks gestation following an abortion receive anti-natal care to protect their life?
  • Is it your policy to support adoption in preference to abortion and if so what action is your government taking to promote adoption?                                                                                                                                                        

Yours sincerely

Ken Orr

Secretary

Is Andrew Little in breach of the Treaty of Waitangi?

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Media Release 3 December 2018

In an unprecedented attack on the sanctity of life of the unborn the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern and the Minister of Justice propose that the killing of children before birth should not be a crime.

 The Minister of Justice, Andrew Little, at the direction of the Prime Minister proposes to amend the Crimes Act to remove women and their unborn from the protection of the Crimes Act. This Act provides legal protection for women and unborn children against the violence of abortion, it also protects the right to life of the unborn, which has been in the Crimes Act since 1856.

 Right to Life believes that the decriminalisation of abortion would be a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi and requests our submission be referred to the Waitangi Tribunal for a decision on this matter.

 Right to Life wrote to the Minister of Maori Development, the Hon. Nanaia Mahuta, in June 2018, requesting that she refer our submission to the Waitangi Tribunal for a decision, but she refused to do this, stating it would be inappropriate.

The Minister of Justice proposes that there would be no statutory test until 22 weeks of pregnancy. After 22 weeks pregnancy, the health practitioner intending to perform an abortion would need to be satisfied the abortion is appropriate in the circumstances, having regard to the women’s physical and mental health and wellbeing.

Right to Life believes that this represents a complete withdrawal by the government of protection for women and their unborn from the violence of abortion, including Maori. In the view of Right to Life, this would be a 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 unborn children, those in Te Whare Tamariki, before birth, should not be a crime.

When the Treaty was signed at Waitangi in 1840, the Crown gave an assurance that Maori people would have the Queen’s protection and all the rights and privileges of British subjects.

We believe the protection of the Crown for the Maori people included the protection for the right to life of Maori from the beginning of pregnancy until death, which was provided by the common law of England and in the New Zealand Crimes Act since 1856.

For the government acting as the Crown to withdraw this protection for Maori women and their unborn would, in our view, be a serious violation of the Treaty.

Section 182. “Killing Unborn Child” of The Crimes Act 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.” It would be a great injustice for the government to remove this protection.

Why do Jacinda Ardern and Andrew Little believe that it should not be a crime to kill an innocent and defenceless unborn child, by abortion?

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 as a “reproductive choice for women” These children will lose the protection of the Crown.

The decriminalisation of abortion would be a violation of the human rights of unborn children and an attack on the dignity of all mothers, including Maori mothers.

It would be a declaration from the Crown that we have no interest in protecting the life of your child or protecting you from the violence of abortion, that your child is your property and it is your choice whether your child lives or dies.

The abortion rate for Maori is disturbingly high. In 2017 there were 3,111 abortions on Maori women, 23.4% of the total of 13,285 abortions reported in New Zealand.

Right to Life believes that if abortion is decriminalised, it will result in more pressure and coercion imposed on Maori women to terminate the lives of their child by the father of the child, who may abandon the mother if she does not have an abortion.

Ken Orr

Spokesperson,

Right to Life.

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

Andrew Little Abandons Crimes Act Protection for Women and the Unborn

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Media Release 30 October 2018

The Minister of Justice proposes allowing for the killing of children up to 22 weeks gestation for any reason at the request of the mother. This is an unprecedented assault on the Crimes Act and its defence of life and an attack on mothers and their unborn.

The Minister of Justice is the Minister responsible for the administration of the Crimes Act. He has a serious responsibility to explain to the community what evidence he and his government, have to justify the removal of abortion from this act.

The Minister is also giving a message to the disability community that he has no objection to the unborn with Down syndrome or other disability being killed before birth with the permission of his Labour led government. He is also giving approval for sex selection abortions that discriminate against female unborn. This discrimination was opposed by 94 % of women in a 2018 poll.

 Right to Life challenges the Minister to answer these important questions?

·       Why does he believe that it is not a crime to kill an unborn child in an abortion?

·       Why does he believe that the unborn child is not a human being?

·       Why does he believe that the child does not have a right to life from conception?

·       Why does he believe that the state should withdraw its protection for the unborn child?

·       Why does he believe that we can protect women’s health by killing their unborn children?

Why should we trust this Minister or his government to protect the lives of other vulnerable groups in our community such as the disabled, those with Alzheimer’s or Dementia, when he is not prepared to protect the unborn?

The Minister of Justice has declared his support for the Law Commission’s option C. This option rejects any statutory test for the killing of a child up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. “After 22 weeks, the health practitioner who intends to terminate the life of the child would need to be satisfied that the abortion is appropriate in the circumstances, having regard to the woman’s physical and mental health and wellbeing.” Right to Life believes that these requirements will effectively provide abortion on demand up to birth.

The New Zealand Parliament in 1856 provided legal protection for women and the lives of unborn children from implantation to birth under the Crimes Act. It is a serious crime to kill an unborn child. The law recognised that the unborn child was a human being and that it had a right to life. It also recognised that the state had a serious duty to protect the lives of the unborn the most vulnerable and defenceless member of our human family.

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

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

Mothers and their unborn die from “safe” abortions in New Zealand

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Media Release 2 October 2018.

 

United Nations Human Rights experts commemorated “International Safe Abortion Day on 29 September.

Abortion activists are campaigning for the decriminalisation of abortion in New Zealand, ignoring how abortions are intrinsically violent to the defenceless unborn and to mothers.

 Family Planning and abortion activists claim that women do not die from safe legal abortions. The Centre for Disease Control in the United States reports that since the passing of Roe v Wade in 1973 to 2008 that 400 women died because of a legal abortion in the United States. The Federal Drug Administration advised that since 2000 to 2017, 22 women have died in the United States from an RU 486 chemical abortion. There were 4185 serious complications reported and 1041 women were hospitalised.

 

The Abortion Supervisory Committee has advised Parliament that since 1978 they have not been advised of any woman dying from an abortion. Right to Life believes that there have probably been at least five immediate deaths of women from an abortion, as the international maternal mortality rate is one maternal death for every 100,000 abortions. Since 1978 there have been more than 500,000 abortions reported in New Zealand. It is believed that doctors are most reluctant to disclose on a death certificate that a maternal death was caused by an abortion. Tragically, wounded women also commit suicide after an abortion, the numbers are hidden.

 

The women of New Zealand do not need the decriminalisation of abortion and improved access. Abortion and safety do not go together. Abortion is never safe for the defenceless unborn child which is violently killed in its mother’s womb.

 

The Abortion Supervisory Committee reported to Parliament in 2017 that there were 12,823 abortions reported in 2016.  There were no complications reported for 12,767 abortions. There were only 56 complications reported as being present prior to the woman’s discharge, that is an unbelievable rate of  0.4 per cent. The international complication rate for abortions is 2 per cent. Right to Life believes that there were probably more than 255 complications, five times the number reported, many of these complications would occur immediately after discharge of the woman from the hospital after the abortion. Long term complications resulting from abortion such as sterility, miscarriages, premature deliveries and breast cancer are not recorded.

 

We should challenge the cynical mantra “abortions should be safe, legal and rare.” The killing of the unborn is never safe for the child that is killed or for the mother who is the second victim of abortion. If we really care about women’s health, the government will promote chastity before marriage, faithfulness within marriage and adoption as a loving option.

 

Ken Orr,

Spokesperson,

Right to Life  

Our government is making Chemical Warfare against our own Children

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Media Release 26 September 2018

The Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern is commended for condemning chemical warfare. Recently she stated, “New Zealand condemns any use of chemical weapons, whether it is in Syria or on the streets of the UK. New Zealand believes all states must adhere to obligations under international law, including in respect of chemical weapons.”

It is inconsistent for the Prime Minister to denounce this crime against humanity while at the same time giving approval for the use of weapons of mass destruction in chemical warfare in New Zealand in a bloody civil war against our own children. The Abortion Supervisory Committee reported to Parliament in 2017 that 1,970, pre-born children were killed,  472 of whom were aged nine weeks or more, in their mother’s womb with the lethal chemical Mifegyne RU486 . This chemical was approved for the killing of children by the Minister of Health Annette King, in August 2001. In her media release on 30 August 2001, the Minister stated that,

“Mifegyne RU486 meets the international standards of safety and effectiveness required for medicines”.

Mifegyne RU 486, is not a medicine and pregnancy is not a disease. The lethal drug is not safe for the unborn child, nor is it safe for women. It is however, as the Minister claims, highly effective in killing the unborn. Since the introduction of this new chemical warfare against the unborn there have been nearly 18,000 unborn killed in New Zealand by this drug. This chemical war is also violence against women who are the second victims of this war.This is a crime against humanity.

Mifegyne acts by depriving the endometrium of a hormone which the human embryo requires to flourish, the embryo then dies of starvation. This highly effective chemical warfare is approved and funded as a core health service by the government and is used in a number of Public Hospitals. The Family Planning Association is an ardent supporter of chemical warfare with Mifegyne and in April 2013 commenced killing unborn children at its Tauranga clinic. The Association supports the decriminalisation of abortion, removing abortion from the Crimes Act and making it no longer a crime to kill an unborn child. The Association supports abortion being a reproductive choice for women for any reason with this lethal poison being available at all of its other 29 clinics.

Chemical warfare has been raging against our own children in the womb for more than fifty years. It is hypocritical for our government to condemn crimes against humanity in other countries while actively waging a war against our own children which is approved and funded by the government. This is a crime against humanity.

Right to Life asks when is the government going to stop this insane civil war against our own children? There will be no peace in New Zealand until this devastating war against our nation’s children in the womb is stopped.

Ken Orr

Spokesperson,

Right to Life.

Dr Duncan Webb MP, “Abortion does not constitute the violent killing of a defenceless child 

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 Image result for duncan webb mpMedia Release 1 September 2018          Image result for violent abortion

Right to Life is disappointed that Dr Duncan Webb MP, Labour, in response to our Society’s letter of 9 August 2018, stated, “abortion does not constitute the violent killing of a defenceless child.” Dr Webb is a Professor of Law and it is with respect that we challenge this statement which raises many important questions.

The Crimes Act, section 182 Killing an unborn child, is emphatic in declaring that it is an unborn child that is killed and that it is a serious crime to kill an unborn child. 

The killing is indeed violent, a suction curettage abortion entails the dismemberment of the child by tearing the legs, arms and head off the child. It is the responsibility of the assisting nurse to reassemble the body parts to ensure that all limbs are recovered. 

It is indisputable that the child is defenceless it is unquestionably the weakest and most defenceless member of the human family. Why is Dr Webb in denial that abortion violently kills a defenceless unborn child?  [Read more…]

Law Commission Should be guided by conclusions of Royal Commission.

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Media Release 25 August 2018

 Right to Life believes that the Law Commission should be guided by the wise conclusions made by the Royal Commission on Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion in its report to Parliament in 1977.

 The Law Commission advised Right to Life in April in response to an Official Information Act request, that the Commission had a copy of the report. The Commission advised that it “is aware that there were a range of views about the extent to which the interest of the fetus should be taken into account. Some of the alternatives the Committee presents in its advice may take the status of the fetus into account to varying extents.”

Right to Life is extremely disappointed and concerned at the response of the Commission. Why, is the Commission dehumanising the unborn child by insisting on calling the child a fetus. The Commission is aware that if it wishes to deny the human rights of the child it is first necessary to deny the child’s humanity. The Commission appears to support the dangerous and false notion that the status of the child is a matter for public opinion. This proposal is an attack on the human rights of every member of our community and violates the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Right to Life earnestly entreats the Commission to place the status of the unborn child and its right to life at the forefront of its review of the abortion laws in New Zealand.

The Commission appears to be influenced by the Minister of Justice, Andrew Little, who believes that the Commission’s report is no longer relevant, he advised our Society in March, “in regards to your fourth request, I would expect the Law Commission to take into account any documents or reviews that are of contemporary relevance . I would take note that the report of the Royal Commission that you reference was undertaken in the 1970s.”

The Commission in its report to Parliament said, 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. 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”

They went on to say, “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 at one point of time and human at another.”

In rejecting the argument that some degree of development should be reached before the unborn child be accorded legal 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.” Does the Law Commission have any evidence that these conclusions are now no longer relevant and should be disregarded?

Right to Life asks the Hon. Andrew Little and the Law Commission why these important and fundamental conclusions about the status of our precious unborn children are not to be at the forefront of the law review by the Commission.

Ken Orr

Spokesperson,

Right to Life

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