Media Release 19th Sep 2019

The New Zealand government has no mandate to declare that abortion does not kill a human being with a right to life.

Neither does the government have a mandate to declare that abortion is not a crime and should be taken out of the Crimes Act.

Nor does the government have a mandate to declare that abortion is “a reproductive choice for women.”

A poll recently conducted by Curia Market Research on behalf of Right to Life reveals that the government has no mandate from the people of New Zealand to impose its radical Abortion Legislation Bill on the nation. The results emphatically reject the uninformed opinion of the Minister of Justice when he denied the humanity of the unborn child and its right to life. made in his address on the 8th August in presenting his radical anti-life Abortion bill. Andrew Little said;

“I reject the notion that abortion entailed killing another human being and I accept on legal and moral grounds that human rights do not accrue until human life is possible.”

The poll was conducted between Monday 26 August and Tuesday 10 September 2019. The sample population was aged 18 or older who were contactable by a landline or mobile phone. 1,000 respondents agreed to participate.

There were two questions asked, the first, “at what stage do you personally believe a fertilized egg becomes a human being. Choose from the following options?

At the time of conception when the egg is fertilised by sperm.
At the time of implantation when the embryo attaches to the womb.
At some point between implantation and birth.
At birth.

Results*

Time	Count	%
Conception	248	25
Implantation	145	14
Between implantation & Birth	265	26
Birth	113	11
Unsure or refuse to answer	233	23
Total	1004	100

A total of 65% of the respondents believed that the unborn child became a human being between conception and prior to birth.

The second question was: – At what stage do you believe the human rights of the unborn child should be protected by New Zealand law? Answer from the following options;

At the time of conception when the egg is fertilised by sperm.
At the time of implantation when the embryo attaches to the womb.
At some point between implantation and birth.
At birth.

Results*

Time	Count	%
Conception	169	17
Implantation	96	10
Between implantation & Birth	277	28
Birth	157	16
Unsure or refuse to answer	305	30
Total	1004	100

A total of 55% of respondents believed that the human rights of the unborn child should be protected between conception and prior to birth. This refutes the proposal of the me Minister that abortion should be taken out of the Crimes Act.
The results of this poll are very similar to the results of a poll conducted in 1997 with the same questions on behalf of Right to Life.

Of those who had an opinion 51% believe that a fertilized egg becomes a human being at conception or implantation and 65% believe that the new human life becomes a human being between conception but before birth. This finding reveals that a substantial majority of New Zealanders oppose the opinion of the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, that abortion does not kill a human being.

Of those who had an opinion 77 percent believe that the human rights of the unborn should be protected by New Zealand law between conception but before birth. Again this finding reveals that the vast majority of New Zealanders oppose the opinion of the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern that our abortion laws should be liberalised.

*Note rounding of the firgues mean the percentages do not tally to exactly 100 percent.

Ken Orr,
Spokesperson,
Right to Life