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News of Zealand

Kiwis Are Importing “Potentially Life Threatening” Abortion Kits

It proves abortion is out of reach for some women, advocates say.
Positive pregnancy test
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Despite abortion being legal—albeit difficult to obtain—in Aotearoa, some New Zealanders are turning to illegally imported abortion kits to terminate their own pregnancies, RNZ reports.

In 2017 Medsafe reported that 39 illegal abortion “kits”, containing mifepristone and/or misoprostol, were seized at the border. The pills are used to induce miscarriages in women up to 10 weeks pregnant. But when used illegally and without monitoring, they can be life threatening. And if woman is more than 10 weeks pregnant and only one pill was taken, foetal abnormalities could occur.

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Dr Pippa Mackay, a Christchurch doctor who performs abortions, said people who bought the drugs online and took them without the approval of health specialists not only risked getting themselves into legal trouble, but were also gambling with their health. "The risks are principally heavy bleeding that occasionally can be catastrophic and potentially life threatening," Dr Mackay said.

She said she was “disturbed” to hear of women resorting to breaking the law to get access to a service that is legal in New Zealand.

Abortions supported by at least two certifying consultants are legal, but getting this stamp of approval is not an easy task. The woman needs to convince them that continuing her pregnancy would put her mental or physical health in danger.

Recently the Law Commission put forward three ways to take abortion out of the Crimes Act. Dr Mackay said changing New Zealand’s abortion law, now 40 years old, could mean fewer people turning to illegal and dangerous abortion kits. "I think there are always women who are going to want to do it themselves… But I think that taking our abortion framework into a non-criminal event would be much better in terms of hopefully making women feel that they can access abortion more readily."

Pro-life group Voice for Life's national president Jacqui de Ruiter said the fact that 13,285 women had abortions last year meant “it’s an easy process to do”. She said the only reason anyone would use illegally important abortion kits would be to keep their termination secret.

Abortion Law Reform Association president Terry Bellamak said she wasn’t surprised to hear women are buying abortion kits online. Abortion in rural areas is still relatively difficult to access and, although abortions are paid for by DHB’s, getting time off work for multiple consultations can be difficult for some.