The Acting Deputy Director General of Health, Clare Perry, has advised Right to Life in response to an Official Information Act request that the term “unborn child” is not a scientific term and does not have a commonly accepted definition. Why is the Ministry trying to deny the humanity of the unborn child?

Our request was “what medical or biological evidence do you have to prove that the unborn child is not a human being with a right to life until it is born?”

The Ministry’s reply was: – “The information you are seeking in this case is not held by the Ministry and would need to be created in order to respond to your request.” 

The community have a right to know why the Ministry which now presides over the abortion industry in New Zealand is not prepared to acknowledge that the term unborn child is widely accepted, that human life begins at conception and that every unborn child is a unique and unrepeatable miracle of God’s loving creation. Why is the Ministry in denial about the humanity of the child when it has a long and commendable record of concern for the health and welfare of mothers and their precious unborn children? How can the Ministry dismiss the report of the Royal Commission stating that it is now 50 years old? The following findings were true in 1977 and are equally true in 2020.

In support of our request we provided information from the Royal Commission on Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion.

The Royal Commission on Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion, in its report to Parliament in 1977 stated that they had received expert biological evidence from around the world confirming that human life began at conception. The Commission also stated that: 

“the child from implantation has a status which entitles it to preservation and protection and that from implantation to birth, changes in the unborn child are of a developmental nature only. 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 child which would make it non-human at one point of time and human at another.”

The website of the Ministry encourages pregnant women to seek immunisation “against influenza Immunisation against influenza and whooping cough as it is important to help protect you and your unborn baby, and to pass your protection to your baby after they are born.”

“To avoid Covid 19 infection, after 28 weeks, pregnant women should take extra precautions and keep themselves well at a time when the growing baby means higher oxygen demands on the mother.”

The Ministry provides factual information on the development of the unborn child.

” At 7 weeks your baby is about 8 mm long from head to bottom. The brain is growing and the heart is beginning to beat. Ears, eyes, arms and legs are also starting to grow. Your baby will start to move, but you won’t be able to feel it yet.”

“Smoking, drinking alcohol and taking drugs during pregnancy should be avoided as it affects your baby and can cause health problems.”

Why does the Ministry acknowledge the humanity of the unborn child only when it is a wanted child and denies the humanity of those children who are unwanted and who are to be violently killed, in the words of the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, as “a reproductive health choice for women.”

Ken Orr
Spokesperson,
Right to Life