3 January 2026
Pretoria Gordon
A sexual and reproductive health specialist says a recent rise in abortion numbers reflects improved access to care rather than an increase in demand.
There has been a 37 percent increase since abortion was decriminalised in New Zealand - from 12,948 in 2019 to 17,785 in 2024.
The Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977 and the Crimes Act 1961 were amended in March 2020.
Can Ardern Successfully Decriminalize Abortion in New Zealand?
The Editors, World Politics Review
Friday, Sept. 20, 2019
New Zealand’s Parliament voted overwhelmingly last month to advance a bill that would decriminalize abortion and loosen restrictions on the procedure. Under current law, women can only obtain an abortion in New Zealand if they receive approval from two doctors, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promised to change that while campaigning in 2017. The bill must pass two more rounds of voting before it can become law.
According to Yanshu Huang, a research fellow at the University of Auckland’s Public Policy Institute, Ardern’s push for reform also reflects a broader change in public opinion among New Zealanders, toward more pro-choice views. In an email interview with WPR, she discusses the roots of abortion’s anachronistic classification as a crime in New Zealand and the reasons it took so long for abortion law reform to gain traction.
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