The march comes after a Labour-led Government's proposal to remove abortion from the Crimes Act, as well as a Law Commission report into the topic earlier this year.

It's the second year the March for Life has been held in Wellington - last year's marked 40 years since the passing of the Act that allowed abortions to become more easily available.

Organisers say this year the crowd was double the size.

Radio New Zealand reported that about 1200 people, including former prime minister Sir Bill English, were at the rally.

They assembled in Te Ngakau Civic Square and then marched through the central city to the grounds of Parliament to listen to a number of speeches by family advocates and National Party MPs, including Simon O'Connor and Alfred Ngaro.

O'Connor said people should stand up for what they believed in.

"I hope with your voices, we will not be silent. We will always stand for life - a consistent ethic of life.

We will be proud, and we will never stop fighting."

Family Life International NZ's spokesperson Michelle Kaufman said it was that "health issue" idea that had sparked the protest action.

"Abortion is not healthcare ... Healthcare is about providing the medical needs of patients.

It does not end the life of one for the convenience of the other," she said.

"Today we march in defence of the right to life and proper health care of pre-born children and their mothers. Today we offer hope."

The New Zealand abortion rate increased slightly in 2017 to 13.7 abortions per 1000 women, compared to 13.5 in 2016, according to Statistics New Zealand.

In total, 13,285 induced abortions were performed in 2017, an increase of 462 (3.6 per cent) on the previous year.

About one in every five pregnancies ended in abortion, the data showed.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz

They have written Jacinda Ardern an open letter, published on Sunday as a full-page advertisement in the Sunday Star-Times, the Herald on Sunday and in the Dominion Post on Monday.

Spokesperson Barbara Hill said that it was time for an honest conversation about the impact abortions have.

"We began to feel that the law was changing too fast without any investigation of the fallout and consequences of abortion."

The open letter includes the names of the eight women and the number of children they have, including those they have aborted.

"We did what we thought was best at the time, encouraged - or in some cases pressured, by those around us. But we have suffered," they say in the letter.

"It was expedient at the time - it solved the initial problem I had, but I didn't realise until years later that I'd actually been grieving," Hill said.

Motivated by her own experience, she's calling for greater support and information to be given to women who are considering abortion.

"Once I stepped on the medical conveyor belt, there was no counselling or any information around potential fallout," Hill said.

"All the other women I've spoken to, not one of them has had really in-depth counselling about the possible outcome of this."

Hill said the advertisements were funded by the eight women and a number of organisations including Family First.

The prime minister hadn't yet read the letter when Newshub spoke to her but said all views would be considered.

She agrees with the letter writers that support for women who are considering abortion should be paramount.

Source

• newshub.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• Image msn.com

The Voice for Life prolife group laid out 13,285 pairs of baby booties on the lawn to represent the number of foetuses aborted in 2017.

There was tension and some scuffles when a prochoice demonstrator started picking up handfuls of booties and scattered them around.

People tried to restrain the person. Police were called but no arrests were made.

Voice for Life national president Jacqui de Ruiter said the group decided to create the graphic display following the release of the latest abortion figures to illustrate how many potential lives were lost through abortion.

DeRuiter said although they were outnumbered by the counter-protesters, the fact that thousands of people around the country had pitched in to knit the booties showed they had a lot of support.

"We are here to speak for the unborn, to show Parliament that we do not need more-liberal abortion laws."

Abortion Rights Aotearoa national president Terry Bellamak, who organised a counter-protest on the other side of the lawn, said it was to show solidarity with those who wanted abortion care.

"This booties protest ... is kind of about shaming and guilting people who have had abortions and we think that's wrong.

"Making sure that women can choose abortion when it's right for them and not having to feel demonised or somehow wrong."

National MPs Simon O'Connor and Chris Penk were among those addressing the prolife group.

Labour and Green Party MPs - as well as Nikki Kaye and Amy Adams from the National Party - spoke to the crowd in support of the counter-protesters.

Adams said there was cross-party support for improving abortion law.

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: Screenshot radionz.co.nz

However, the policy does not appear in the Labour Party's 100-day plan.

Justice Minister Andrew Little says it would be "well into next year" before any changes.said the government remained committed to modernising the law. Continue reading

In August, an online referendum was held that contained a double question: "Should AUSA disaffiliate the ProLife Club and ban any clubs with similar ideology from affiliating in the future?"

The legal advice presented to AUSA found the referendum question could be considered biased or leading because it was not possible to answer each of the questions separately.

AUSA president Will Matthews said if the referendum question had been split into two questions it would have been a different matter.

"The way it was written is unconstitutional, so we have declared it void."

ProLife New Zealand (PLNZ) spokeswoman Mary-Anne Evers said the club welcomed the news.

"The whole process baffled me a little, to be honest," says Evers. "An unsubstantiated, anonymous question was submitted to be included in the AUSA referendum shortly before voting opened.

"The club had very little time to respond to it, or to engage students in real discussion on the matter.

"Then when the results came out they were "provisional" because they weren't sure whether they were allowed to do what they were doing. It just didn't seem like due process.

"They may not agree with the views that our clubs hold, but at least they recognise our right to free speech and don't try to suppress views they disagree with."

Evers hopes that the continued presence of Prolife Auckland at the University will "keep the conversation happening".

She notes that "women on both sides of the debate have a lot in common.

"We both see difficult situations that women face, including unwanted or difficult pregnancies, or gender discrimination (often tied to motherhood or potential motherhood).

Source

• Scoop
• Stuff
• Image: Stuff

"The Catholic Church has learned through dark periods in our own history that banning free-thinking and persecuting those with different views is a shameful and retrograde step for society," said Bishop Patrick Dunn, NZCBC President.

In a referendum 1609 voted in favour of the ban and 1034 voted against the ban. AUSA has a total membership of around 15,000.

The referendum also questioned whether clubs with a "similar ideology" should be banned from affiliating in the future.

"A student-led group dedicated to advocating on ethical issues surrounding abortion and the welfare and support of women should be a welcome addition to the campus life at any University," said Bishop Dunn.

"New Zealand is a multi-faith, multi-cultural, multi-race community and our Universities ought to have the capacity to engage in meaningful dialogue on ethical and conscience issues."

Bishop Dunn went on to say, "I call on all Auckland University students who are committed to human rights and the protection of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion to encourage their representative body to reconsider this narrow-minded and regressive step."

Co-president of Prolife Auckland Jelena Middleton says that the outcome is "unjust, and legally dubious as it means that a group of students is being punished simply for exercising their legal right to peacefully express legitimate ethical views."

"What makes this process all the more frightening is the total lack of transparency, and the clear violations of natural justice that it has entailed" says Middleton.

"The referendum process was enacted by a totally anonymous person, the question was vaguely worded, there have never been any grounds given for what prompted such a drastic action, and we were only given a few days to prepare and present our case before the voting opened."

"It's doubtful that such an unjust process and outcome would be tolerated in any other sector of a free and open society like New Zealand. We are now seeking legal advice about the legality of this action and how it may have breached the NZ Bill of Rights."

Results of referenda that do not directly affect AUSA's financial or administrative processes are automatically binding.

However, the decision will not be finalised until AUSA had sought legal advice regarding the concerns raised by members.

Adam Jacobsen writing for Stuff says that AUSA affiliation was largely a symbolic acknowledgement from the student community that it wishes to be associated with that particular organisation.

Jacobsen said that the Pro Life Club would still be eligible to access university space and distribute information on campus, set up a club stall during orientation week, and receive funding.

But the pro life club has been informed that any application they now make for funding will be opposed by the AUSA on account of the new disaffiliated status.

Middleton said they will also have to pay more for rooms and resources controlled by AUSA now than they would have before when they were an affiliated club.

Source

• Supplied: Amanda Gregan Media Advisor New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference
• Stuff
• Scoop
• NewsHub
• Image: Times Higher education

It was organised by groups who want to preserve the Eighth Amendment.

Article 40.3.3 of the Irish Constitution, known as the Eighth Amendment, was voted into the Irish Constitution by referendum in 1983.

The amendment states: ‘The states acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.'

In June, on his first day as the Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Leo Varadkar, announced that Minister for Health, Simon Harris, is to begin preparing legislation for a referendum on repealing the eighth amendment.

Niamh Ui Bhriain of the Life Institute, one of the organisers of the march, said the march was the "real Citizens' Assembly".

She was alluding to the 100-strong ‘Citizens' Assembly' created by the Irish Government which did not contain representative from 10 of the twenty- six counties it was selected to represent,

"This is not like a handpicked outfit, you know, put together to get a preordained outcome," she said.

The introduction of the assembly had been criticised by pro-choice campaigners as well. They saw it as a way for the government to put-off calling a referendum.

In April, the Citizens' Assembly recommended that abortion should be legal in Ireland without restriction up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. On Thursday, the Assembly published additional recommendations about sexual health education and reproductive healthcare services.

Source

• The Catholic Herald
• National Catholic Register
• Irish Times
• thejournal
• University Times
• Image: thejournel

It is an effort to bring about an end to abortion and offer hope to abortion vulnerable.

The vigil is coordinated by Family Life International (F.L.I), a Catholic pro-life and pro-family organisation that provides practical help to all women and girls facing an unplanned pregnancy.

Family Life International says 40 Days for Life runs in 40 countries across more than 600 cities and is known to have saved 12,668 lives and resulted in 83 abortion centre closures worldwide.

This year, for the first time, 40 Days for Life vigils in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch are running 12 hours a day, every day for 40 consecutive days.

This makes it the largest 40 Days for Life mobilisation ever seen in New Zealand.

It is the the fourth time it has occurred in Auckland.

And it is the second year that Michael Loretz has been the organiser there.

He says it's an "an awesome responsibility and privilege to give a public witness and to provide community outreach to vulnerable women in an effort to end the tragedy of abortion in our community."

The vigil is being held outside the Auckland Medical Aid Centre (AMAC) in Dominion Road.

Loretz admits that "there have been tensions but the relationship seems to be civil most of the time."

His hopes for this year's vigil is "that hearts and minds will turn to God and that respect for life and a culture of life will return to our collective consciousness…It would be marvellous if a baby were saved."

General Manager of AMAC, Lesley Wood, feels that the vigil is "futile & unchristian".

Wood said the vigils have "no affect what so ever on the business," adding "it can make others angry and even more determined to exercise their legal rights."

Source

• fli.org.nz
• newsbeat.kiwi
• Image: newsbeat.kiwi

Dame Linda Holloway, ASC chairwoman, says the ASC held no opinion on the decriminalisation of abortion.

"We believe that major reform of the Act is something for society and for Parliament."

But the committee requested a redraft of the current legislation because its wording was causing "enormous administrative problems" for the ASC and health practitioners."

The report says the outdated wording in the legislation was creating problems for health officials and allowing anti-abortion groups to launch legal challenges.

The law was not written in inclusive language, Holloway said.

"In fact, some parts of the language is actually quite offensive, referring to people as subnormal, for example."

"Really it is an indictment that we have statute like that on the books that is not being corrected."

Dame Linda was asked by media after the committee meeting if the polarising nature of the issue and wider political debate could mean the committee's request for a redraft would come to nothing.

"I'm uncertain. But having been the select committee today, our next task is to meet with officials in the ministry [of health] to get some advice on the practicalities of trying to embark on something like this."

In its 2016 report the ASC said it is often asked to clarify the act's "unnecessarily complicated wording, particularly around referrals and consultation processes".

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• nzdoctor.co.nz
• Image: nzherald.co.nz

The title of his presentation was "Manufacturing Stigma: How Religious Healthcare Could Damage Your Health".

In September Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, chair of the US bishops' pro-life committee, said this lobbyist group "is not affiliated with the Catholic Church in any way.

"It has no membership, and clearly does not speak for the faithful. It is funded by powerful private foundations to promote abortion as a method of population control."

Dolan said "the use of the name 'Catholic' as a platform to promote the taking of innocent human life is offensive not only to Catholics, but to all who expect honesty and forthrightness in public discourse."

O'Brien is a mass-going Catholic born and raised in the Republic of Ireland.

In an interview with Kim Hill on Saturday Morning O'Brien said the Catholic church is a body of believers, "rather than some building in Rome".

He says it should should be compassionate and committed to social justice, including women's sexual health.

O'Brien said the bishops were solely representing their own kind.

"And very often their views are downright wrong and dangerous."

"The reality is the Catholic hierarchy have a very narrow, very conservative view that's not even shared by other religions so it seems like a craziness to put what they would advocate into law."

Bishops, like any group, should have an absolute right to free speech, but should not have the right to put their beliefs into law, he says.

"I don't think that their particular beliefs reflect the best thing for a pluralistic and secular society."

The CFC website says O'Brien's involvement in reproductive rights was sparked by his reaction to the great injustices that women especially face as a result of the Catholic hierarchy's influence over public policy in Ireland.

Listen to inteview with Kim Hill

Source

• cruxnow.com
• catholicsforchoice.org
• familyplanning.org.nz
• radionnz.co.nz
• Image: conscience

She was charged and convicted - erroneously, in the eyes of a coalition of senior medical, legal and human rights advocates in Port Moresby who have taken up her case - with the unlawful killing of an unborn child.

Her husband, James Channel, received a similar sentence for helping buy the drugs to induce abortion through the back door of a local clinic.

It was common knowledge around Arawa that a health worker there ran a thriving business selling and administering misoprostol.

The couple are understood to be the first in PNG to be jailed for abortion.

Those fighting for a Supreme Court review of the judgment say the case looms as a dangerous precedent in a country where access to contraception is scarce, motherhood is a perilous business and unsafe abortions are shockingly high.

Leoba was raised in a village in mountain country in central Bougainville.

A good student, at the end of grade eight she was invited to continue her education but had been promised in marriage.

At 16 she was sent to her betrothed's family to work in their food garden and household and prove herself before marrying at 18.

In October 2014 Devana was 23, with a two-year-old son and a six-month-old girl she was breastfeeding.

Both births had been difficult, the second leaving her injured and traumatised after the 4.8-kilogram baby got stuck.

Around this time she fell pregnant again.

As Justice Sir Kina Bona, who presided over the case in the National Court, observed in his written judgment: "She was weak, she was short of blood and she found she was not coping too well."

Devana was about 4 months pregnant when she and her husband obtained the drugs for the termination in early January 2015.

When she went to Arawa clinic after two days of bleeding and complications, police were summoned and Channel was jailed.

Devana was ordered from her bed by her irate mother and instructed to walk 20 minutes up the road and turn herself in.

She passed out in the cells but was cared for by other inmates.

A Catholic in a strongly faithful community, she was also the sole female heir to a matrilineal heritage and so felt intense pressure to produce daughters.

Contraception was never discussed within her family, she says, and she recalls no instruction on the topic at school or from health workers.

While PNG has a strong policy advocating universal access to family planning, in much of the country the message is not heard due to remoteness, pockets of cultural and religious resistance, and the lack of basic services.

In many communities the only health care is provided by the Catholic Church, which declines facilitating access to modern contraception, although it is funded by the PNG government to provide a full range of services.

Source

• smh.com.au
• Image: smh.com.au

It is is called My Decision/Kei a au te Whakataunga (www.mydecision.org.nz).

It is owned by the Abortion Law Reform Association of NZ.

Last year ALRANZ condemned a group of Southland pro-lifers for trying to seek the names of their local medical professionals involved in carrying out abortions in their region.

The website lists 28 doctors, nurses, pharmacies and counsellors who object for moral or religious reasons to contraception or abortions.

My Decision spokesperson Terry Bellamak said organisers were also inviting doctors and others who "conscientiously object" to some services to list what options they do and do not offer.

"From the standpoint of consumer protection, it makes no sense to keep potential patients in the dark about their health care providers' intentions," Bellamak said.

"Conscientious objectors who agree can demonstrate their good faith by registering on our site."

Alison McCulloch of ALRANZ says that they "will trust people to be fair in their submissions" to the website because "we just list the name of people who've been reported to us - we don't go into details about what happened…"

Right to Life NZ vice-president Chris O'Brien said conscientious objection was a fundamental right and he felt the site's purpose was to "name and shame".

O'Brien said Right to Life did not make public lists of the names and practices of abortion providers.

A Tauranga counselling centre director says the website has listed her service as a place refusing to provide abortions and contraception and says it is not the case at all.

Pregnancy Choice Centre director Janice Tetley-Jones says her centre provides support to all pregnant women - regardless of what they choose when it comes to sex and pregnancy.

"This listing is so the opposite to what we're doing."

"It is concerning to me that people can make anonymous allegations against any pregnancy centre or medical practitioner without any acceptable standard of proof," Tetley-Jones says.

"As in our case, we are just providing information and support to those facing a crisis pregnancy."

Source

• Scoop
• The Marlborough Express
• Sunlive
• Stuff.co.nz
• The Leading Edge
• The Leading Edge
• Image: Prolife.org.nz

The Auckland residents got devastating news in November when Brits was 21 weeks pregnant.

A scan showed low amniotic fluid levels surrounding the baby boy and they were told he was dying and they'd have to arrange an abortion.

But the expectant parents refused to give up hope. Continue reading

A drunken night out, sex with an ex. It's not an unusual story.

But a few weeks later, Katherine (whose name has been changed to protect her privacy) passed out in the street and was admitted to Wellington Hospital.

The 23-year-old had a bunch of tests, and when she was examined, staff felt her stomach and told her she "felt full". She had been to her GP a handful of times for colds and low blood pressure.

She was never tested for pregnancy, nor did her GP offer a pregnancy test, and since she was on hormonal birth control, she didn't think to ask for it, either. She noticed her stomach was bloated, and took laxatives.

"After taking them for a few days and it not going away, I took a pregnancy test on a whim and it was positive. I thought it was a false positive so I took like 3 tests before going to the nurse. The university doctors told me I was probably 12 weeks pregnant," she remembers.

A day later, she found out how far into her pregnancy she was.

At 20 weeks and two days, Katherine was well into her second trimester - she had one day until the legal cut off to have an abortion in New Zealand. A counsellor at Wellington Hospital told her that there wasn't anything that could be done for her. Continue reading.

Source: The Wireless

Image: Getty Images/The Telegraph

A series of television advertisements by Voice for Life featured a young woman, Ariana, who had an abortion at 15.

In the advertisements, which aired on TVNZ, Ariana discussed the effects the abortion had on her including, depression, suicide attempts and taking drugs to "numb the pain" because she regretted it. Continue reading

A coalition of feminist groups, politicians and leading doctors campaigned for the decriminalisation of the state's abortion law. The Abortion Law Reform Act was passed by the state Parliament in October 2008. Two medical ethicists have put the case for infanticide in the Journal of Medical Ethics.

In the Roman era, infanticide was routine and normal.

The spreading influence of Christianity put a stop to the practice.

In 1920, Karl Binding and Alfred Hoche published their book The Permission to Destroy Life Unworthy of Life which advocated "compassionate" killing of those deemed "human ballast".

In an article in the NZ Herald, Bernard Moran says that when abortion up to birth is made legal, it is a short step to abortion after birth.

Continue reading in NZ Herald.

Image: Stuff.co.nz

Bernard Moran is the national president of Voice for Life

Joanna Spratt is a PhD candidate at the Australian National University's Crawford School of Public Policy. She says governments need to start looking at reforming highly-restrictive legislation.

Ms Spratt hopes the Pacific will make progress towards decriminalization and providing safe access to abortion. Listen to interview on ABC

Festival organisers have deemed the float too offensive to appear in the 57th annual procession through the Central Otago, New Zealand town on Saturday.

Bruce Lietze says he had been working on the float for about four months, and was only told this week that it wouldn't be allowed to go in the parade.

But parade organiser Martin McPherson says the parade is a fun way of celebrating the community, and the anti-abortion float was inappropriate for the event.

Mr McPherson says the Life is Precious group took part in the parade last year, and were warned about the suitability of their float then.

Source

• Radio New Zealand
• MSN News
• Image: Stuff.co.nz

The advertisment was placed by the Voice for Life Bay of Plenty Charitable Trust.

Chairman Don Brebner said it was a collective response from churches over abortion services being brought to Tauranga.

"When you are dedicated with respect for life, you're obviously obliged to do what you can."

Brebner said there were several support services in the community that could help mothers in situations where they might not be able to afford to bring a baby into the world.

"Up to now, the Catholics have worked through the Magellan Trust and it has helped nearly 100 or more women in that situation over the past five years."

The trust was connected to the St Vincent de Paul Society in providing financial assistance to people who needed it, he said.

Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand executive member Alison McCulloch questioned what concrete support the churches could offer and said she hoped the approach was genuine, regardless of the women's eventual decision.

Tauranga Family Planning Clinic began abortion services in April this year.

Source

• The New Zealand Herald
• Image: SunLive

In a summary released on Wednesday, the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal says the doctor acted inappropriately and contrary to the best interests of patients in prescribing misoprostol, known as Cytotec, to women in a way that was contrary to legal pregnancy termination procedures.

According to the charge sheet, the doctor prescribed and/or dispensed misoprostol (Cytotec) to three pregnant patients, resulting in abortions that breached the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977.

In one instance, she gave a patient 56 tabs of misoprostol without determining if the pregnancy was non-viable.

She also prescribed misoprostol to a fourth patient, and failed to document the prescriptions in all four of the patients' clinical notes. The tribunal says there was professional misconduct in relation to four patients.

The tribunal says High Court orders mean it cannot publish details of the medical practitioner or certain other details, and that is why it has issued the summary.

Source

• Radio New Zealand
• New Zealand Herald
• NZ Doctor
• Image: FirstBabyJourneys