New Zealand – ALRANZ Applauds NCW Abortion Stance

ALRANZ Applauds NCW Abortion Stance

Monday, 3 September 2018
Press Release: ALRANZ

ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa (ALRANZ) congratulates the National Council of Women of New Zealand (NCW) for reaffirming its commitment to reproductive rights by strengthening its position on abortion law reform at its annual conference in Auckland on Saturday.

NCW voted decisively in favour of the ALRANZ-sponsored remit to bolster its support for abortion law reform by calling for abortion to be “a standard part of health care – safe, legal and accessible”.

Continued: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1809/S00010/alranz-applauds-ncw-abortion-stance.htm

03.09.2018

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ALRANZ

ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa

Kate Sheppard

National Council of Women of New Zealand

New Zealand Crimes Act

New Zealand – Big Read: Abortion law reform – what’s at stake?

Big Read: Abortion law reform - what's at stake?
17 Jun, 2018
20 minutes to read
By: Dawn Picken

Abortion is in the spotlight again, after voters in Ireland voted overwhelmingly late last month to overturn the largely Catholic country's ban by 66.4 per cent to 33.6 per cent. The Emerald Isle's referendum comes as a law commission in New Zealand considers removing abortion from the Crimes Act. Bay of Plenty Times Weekend reporter Dawn Picken spoke with advocates, activists and women who've had or considered abortions about what decriminalising the procedure means to them.

*note: names of women who've had abortions have been changed to protect privacy.
Heartbreaking Pregnancy

Tania and Scott were thrilled when they learned they were pregnant with their second child. Everything was going well when the couple went for their 20-week ultrasound to learn the baby's sex. It was a boy, says Tania.

Continued: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12070558

New Zealand – Terry Bellamak: Law commission has its work cut out on abortion

Terry Bellamak: Law commission has its work cut out on abortion
6 Apr, 2018
NZ Herald
By: Terry Bellamak

In February the Minister of Justice, Andrew Little, asked the Law Commission to undertake a review of New Zealand's abortion laws in order to transform abortion from a criminal matter to a health matter. It's a big job. It amounts to nothing less than reconceptualising abortion in the eyes of the law.

It is also a huge opportunity to bring relief to pregnant people who will be consumers of this service in the future.

Continued: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12026649

New Zealand: Abortion Rights Aotearoa releases diagram that shows complexity of accessing an abortion

Abortion Rights Aotearoa releases diagram that shows complexity of accessing an abortion
22 Mar, 2018

A woman seeking an abortion in New Zealand has to jump through around a dozen hoops to get the procedure.

This is compared to some states in America where it is a one-step process.

The Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand has published two diagrams of the processes side by side to show how difficult it is for Kiwi women.

Continued: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12018139

An Irish abortion referendum raises questions on why NZ is still waiting

An Irish abortion referendum raises questions on why NZ is still waiting

BRAD FLAHIVE
March 14 2018

As Ireland presses on with a referendum that could modernise abortion laws in a predominantly Catholic country, it raises questions about how progressive New Zealand is with feticide laws.

Last week, the Irish government agreed the wording of its referendum. Voters will be asked if they want to repeal article 40.3.3 – a law that gives unborn foetuses and pregnant women an equal right to life.

Continued: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/102130614/an-irish-abortion-referendum-raises-questions-why-nz-is-still-waiting

New Zealand: No choice: When a legal abortion is denied

No choice: When a legal abortion is denied
Monday 18th September 2017

The decision to have a child can be life changing. But Kate* says she didn’t have a choice.

A woman who was denied a second trimester abortion through North Shore Hospital says the ordeal was so traumatising, she contemplated suicide.

Kate, a 28-year-old administrator, was 18-weeks and five days pregnant when she was referred by her GP to the Waitematā District Health Board for a second trimester abortion.

But the day after her referral, she says she was called by a social worker who told her doctors were not comfortable with performing a termination after 18 weeks.

Continued at source: http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/no-choice

New Zealand: Current abortion law and proposed changes

Q+A: Current abortion law and proposed changes

KATIE KENNY
September 6 2017

Jacinda Ardern and Bill English clashed over the issue during Monday's televised leaders debate.

When the Abortion Supervisory Committee described New Zealand's abortion laws as "offensive" and outdated, Prime Minister Bill English said any liberalising of the legislation wasn't going to happen on his watch.

But it will on mine, Labour leader Jacinda Ardern promised during Monday's leaders debate. She said if she were elected she would review the legislation which hasn't been altered since 1977.

Continued at source: Stuff.co: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/96525027/qa-current-abortion-law-and-proposed-changes

New Zealand: Antiquated abortion law a $20 million ‘box ticking exercise’

Antiquated abortion law a $20 million ‘box ticking exercise’
Monday 10th July 2017
The decriminalisation of abortion in New Zealand will save the taxpayer millions, a leading doctor says.

The Government has forked out more than $20 million since 2012 paying specialist doctors to sign off on abortions.

But one specialist has called the process “cruel”, and says a 40-year-old law necessitating the exercise needs to change.

Under the Crimes Act, it is illegal for a woman to have an abortion in New Zealand unless it has been approved by two highly-paid specialist doctors, called certifying consultants.

Continued at source: The Wireless: http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/antiquated-abortion-law-a-20-million-box-ticking-exercise

New Zealand: Abortion debate divides city road

Abortion debate divides city road

MAR 20 2017, Cass Mason

For the duration of Lent, two groups of people are spending their days outside the Auckland Medical Aid Centre: those who want to see abortion banned in New Zealand, and those who want it made legal

Every day for 40 days in the lead-up to Easter, two sides of a fraught debate stand dutifully on opposite sides of Dominion Rd.

Each watches the other warily. Those for choice are louder, more colourful; they cheer when cars sound their horns. Across the way, volunteers mutter prayers and engage largely with the pavement.

Continued at source: Newsroom: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/03/19/15831/the-division-on-dominion-rd

New Zealand: Hundreds of Kiwi women told their abortions were ‘not justified’

Hundreds of Kiwi women told their abortions were 'not justified'

In 2016, 252 "not justified abortion" certificates were issued to pregnant women.
by Henry Cooke
March 13, 2017

Hundreds of "not justified abortion" certificates were handed out to pregnant Kiwi women in 2016.

Even as the overall abortion rate has trended down since 2010, the number of women told their abortion would not be "justified" has remained steady.

Abortion is technically a crime in New Zealand. Two certified medical practitioners must deem the abortion medically necessary or justified for it to be legal, but in practice the law is routinely subverted by both doctors and patients.

Continued at source: Stuff.co: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/90390584/hundreds-of-kiwi-women-told-their-abortions-were-not-justified