Media Release 20 April 2019

The Minister of Justice, Andrew Little should be at the forefront in defending the right to life of every New Zealander from conception to natural death. Sadly he is not. Instead he is advocating not only for the killing of the defenceless unborn child as a “reproductive choice for women”, but also for the killing by doctors of the aged, the disabled and the seriously ill, through the End of Life Choice bill. He believes it’s all about ‘choice’.

Right to Life is disappointed that the Minister of Justice in a letter to our Society dated 11 April said, “the current framework around abortion is that it is a crime in the first instance. This attaches a heavy stigma to a woman who is considering an abortion …”

This stigma is a mark of disgrace that has been recognised by mankind since the beginning of time. This stigma is associated with the taking of innocent human life. It  is recognised internationally by all cultures and races. There is nothing the Minister can do to remove this stigma from the state funded and authorised genocide of our defenceless unborn which has killed more than 500,00 children since 1977. This stigma was instituted by God in support of His Fifth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.”

To deny the stigma against taking innocent human life it is necessary to deny the humanity of the unborn child. Medical science tells us that human life begins at conception. Family Planning have warned against humanising the child in the womb and always uses language in describing the developing child, to achieve that goal.

It is the intention of the Labour led government to remove abortion from the Crimes Act and to make abortion a “reproductive choice for women.” The stigma is protective of women. The campaign to decriminalise abortion conducted by the government, is supported by the Family Planning Association.

The authors of previous genocides sought to remove the stigma associated with the murder of the innocent; the Turkish genocide of the Armenians, the Nazi genocide of the Jews, the genocide of the Cambodians by the Kymer Rouge and the Hutu genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda. The government disguises the genocide by euphemistically calling it ‘health care’. To say that the government’s intention is to promote abortion as health care is akin to describing the gas chambers at Auschwitz as health spas.

The very foundational principle of our laws and medicine is the total prohibition on the taking of innocent human life. Abortion is the violent murder of an innocent child. Women instinctively want to protect the life of the child growing in their womb. The stigma resonnates with the conscience of women, which informs them that killing their child in the womb is always wrong.

The stigma is more intense for those women who have had an abortion especially those who have been coerced by the father of the child. Men who have fathered a child often threaten to abandon the mother or use violence against her, if she objects to having an abortion.

Those who seek to remove the stigma refuse to acknowledge that there are many women in our community who are suffering a lifetime of regret, grief and sorrow at the loss of their child in an abortion.

Right to Life requests the Minister  recognise that the killing of the unborn child is a crime against humanity and should be left in the Crimes Act. The government should promote adoption as the loving option.

Ken Orr
Spokesperson,
Right to Life