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News of Zealand

New Zealand Inches Closer to Decriminalising Abortion

A new Law Commission report offers three alternatives to our current “dehumanising” system.
Law Commission Wants Government To Remove Abortions From Crimes Act

Following in the footsteps of Queensland, New Zealand may finally start treating abortion like a health issue, not a criminal one. In a report, prepared for Justice Minister Andrew Little, the Law Commission asks the Government to reconsider abortion as a crime and lays out three alternatives to our existing abortion law.

Under New Zealand’s current law, women have to convince two certifying health professionals that continuing their pregnancy would result in serious harm to their mental and or physical health. Rape or the inability to support a child, are not grounds for abortion.

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VICE NZ spoke to women who have gone through this gruelling process. Tamarra, who was 22 at the time, says having to declare herself “as physically/mentally unfit to bear a child is dehumanising and detracts from my autonomy to make decisions about my body and my future.”

Model A proposed the Law Commission, ensures there would be no statutory test for an abortion to be performed, and the decision for an abortion would be made by the woman in consultation with her health practitioner.

Model B is very similar to the current law, where the woman needs health practitioners approval, except the statutory test would be in health legislation, instead of the Crimes Act.

And Model C is a compromise of the two. For pregnancies under 22 weeks, Model A would apply. But for termination of pregnancies over 22 weeks, which constitute less than 1 percent of abortions international, Model B would apply.

National President of ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa, Terry Bellamak, says Model B is hardly an improvement of the current law because it still puts the decision in the hands of “a random health practitioner”.

“Model A is clearly superior because it treats abortion as a health issue like any other, and does not place unnecessary barriers between pregnant people and abortion care.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who believes abortions should be removed from the Crimes Act, says the report is a starting point, “now it's time to talk to all MPs and political parties to ask where do we go to from here."

On Friday Little said changing law involves a shift in perspective: "moving away from the idea that a woman seeking to terminate a pregnancy is somehow doing something criminal to a woman seeking professional health advice."