Feticide

Media Release 24 July 2021

Why is the Government of Jacinda Ardern offering Abortion up to Full Term of Pregnancy?

Right to Life asks the Minister of Health why the Abortion Legislation Act allows for the violent killing of babies up to the full term of pregnancy. The Minister, Andrew Little, when as the Minister of Justice presenting the Abortion Legislation bill at its first reading on 8^th August 2019 told Parliament, that, “there was no such thing as a full term abortion”. “Stupid stuff and it would be if anybody believed there was any such thing as full term abortion-there isn’t”. The Minister’s claim is rebutted by information provided to Right to Life by the Ministry of Health accepting that abortion was legal for the full term of pregnancy. Will the Minister now acknowledge that the Abortion law permits the killing of the unborn for the full nine months of pregnancy and that he will now seek to have the abortion law changed to outlaw the killing of the unborn up to full term?

The Ministry advised Right to Life in May in response to a request under the Official Information Act of the numbers of abortions in 2020 that were 24 weeks or more gestation. The information revealed that abortions up to 39 weeks had been reported to the Ministry by abortion providers.

The Director General Of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, who presides over the abortion industry in New Zealand, has directed in the interim guidelines that from 22 weeks gestation to avoid a baby being born alive, potassium chloride be injected into the heart of the child to kill the baby to ensure that it is not born alive.

The Capital & Coast DHB advised Right to Life on 16 July in response to an Official Information Act request that medical abortions are unlikely to be available from 22 weeks as feticide would not be available except for severe fetal abnormality.

The DHB revealed that the provision of post 20 week abortions is potentially limited by conscientious objection in the midwifery and nursing workforce.

Right to Life commends and supports midwives and nurses who refuse to be involved in the killing of their weakest and most defenceless unborn patients.

Right to Life also commends doctors who refuse late term abortions on conscience grounds to killing the defenceless unborn for socio-economic reasons.

Right to Life is concerned that Capital & Coast DHB is,” succession planning to include changing its model of care to a nurse /midwife led model with training for nurse/midwife in dating scanning, pre –assessment, counselling and prescribing to be explored”. Abortion will then be for a woman and a nurse or midwife to decide. Is the killing of a child before birth to be considered too trivial to require the attention of a doctor?

Right to Life is also concerned that children with disabilities including Down syndrome are being killed in late term abortions. This supports the government’s search and destroy screening mission to eliminate Down syndrome by killing babies with Down syndrome. These are our beautiful people. It is estimated that 60 % of babies who are diagnosed through screening are killed before birth. It is shameful that the Prime Minister opposed protection for babies with Down syndrome being killed after 20 weeks gestation and was responsible for the defeat of the Supplementary Order Paper 459 of National MP, Melissa Lee, that would have outlawed these killings.

Ken Orr,

Spokesperson,

Right to Life

Media Release 1 May 2021

Doctors refusing to kill unborn children with Lethal Injection

The Mid Central District Health Board recently funded an estimated $10,000 for an abortion in Sydney that doctors in New Zealand had presumably refused to do, because they did not believe that it was “appropriate.”

A summary of quarterly reports of District Health Boards [DHB] by the Director General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, revealed his concern that there were only 4 DHBs where doctors were prepared to administer feticide to kill the unborn who were 22 weeks or more in gestation.

Dr Bloomfield has instructed that for medical abortions of these children that feticide, an injection of Potassium chloride, was to be injected into the heart of the child to kill it and ensure that the baby was not born alive. The purpose of abortion is to produce a dead baby, not a live one.

There are 4 DHBs that offer feticide, Auckland, Capital & Coast, Canterbury and Southern. Dr Bloomfield is concerned that many doctors refuse on conscience grounds to be involved in the killing of the unborn.

Dr Bloomfield’s summary reveals:-

· “That some medical practitioners are unwilling to be involved outside of care for severe fetal abnormality.”

· “Providers of feticide are likely to object to being involved if the abortion is not because of fetal abnormality or severe health risk to the woman.”

The Minister of Health, Andrew Little, previously the Minister for Justice, stated on 6 August 2019, when presenting the Abortion Legislation bill at its first reading:-

“The evidence is that virtually all abortions carried out after 20 weeks are because of severe foetal abnormality or because there is a severe risk to the woman’s life or physical health. And, for the record, let me state there is no such thing as “full-term abortion”.

The conclusions of the Director General of Health contradict the statement of his Minister. It must now be concluded that many late term abortions are performed, some up to birth are for socio economic reasons and have nothing to do with protecting the life or health of the mother.

This was the predictable result of Parliament passing the Prime Minister’s extremist Abortion Legislation Act 2020. The report of the Perinatal Maternal Review Commission report for 2018 revealing that in 2017 and in 2018 there 3 abortions between 37 and 40 weeks gestation, this confirms that abortions are being done up to birth.

Right to Life applauds those courageous doctors, midwifes and nurses who refuse to be involved in the killing of the defenceless unborn before birth.

The concern of Dr Bloomfield was highlighted by information obtained under the Official Information Act from the Mid Central DHB. It was disclosed that a DHB had sent a women wanting a late term abortion to the Marie Stopes abortion clinic in Sydney. The cost of this abortion funded by the DHB was $8,633.99 plus travel and accommodation costs.

The Perinatal Maternal Mortality Review Commission revealed in its latest report that there were 135 late term abortions from 20 weeks gestation in 2018. * (See end of post for details)

37 – 40 weeks <3 abortions

32 – 36 weeks, 3

28 – 31 weeks <3

25 – 27 weeks 16

23 – 24 weeks 26

20 – 22 weeks 87

Dr Bloomfield has directed that, in the event that feticide with a lethal injection of Potassium chloride is not available because of the refusal of doctors refusing to be involved on conscience grounds, then doctors must kill the unborn in a surgical abortion.

This is particularly gruesome and excruciatingly painful, surgical abortion involves crushing, dismemberment and removal of the baby’s body from a woman’s uterus, mere weeks before, or even after, the child reaches a developmental age of potential viability outside the mother.

Right to Life is opposed to Dr Bloomfield’s proposal to develop an employment strategy to ensure staff are committed to the killing of unborn children as health care as part of their job description, consistent with the new legislation. Our hospitals should be committed to caring not killing.

Ken Orr,

Spokesperson,

Right to Life

* A summary table with the figures is available on page 60 of the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee | Te P?rongo ?-Tau Tekau m? Wh? o te Komiti Arotake Mate P?pi, Mate Whaea Hoki. A copy can be viewed or downloaded on our website: https://www.hqsc.govt.nz/our-programmes/mrc/pmmrc/publications-and-resources/publication/4210/.