Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand MEDIA RELEASE

28 June 2016

U.S. Abortion Victory Will Protect New Zealand Women’s Rights

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a Texas anti-abortion law should stop activists in New Zealand trying to cut abortion access on spurious health grounds, the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand says.

The Court decided not to uphold a Texas law called HB2 which imposed unnecessary restrictions on abortion clinics on supposed health and safety grounds.

HB2 required abortion clinics and doctors to meet unreasonably high standards, and this led to more than half the clinics in Texas closing down.

ALRANZ President Terry Bellamak says the law’s been exposed as unreasonable, and the Court’s decision will have an impact here.

“Anti-abortion groups in New Zealand closely follow U.S. tactics, and they’re already misusing safety and health concerns to promote their agenda,” Ms Bellamak says.

“We’re seeing ongoing efforts to impose mandatory parental notification for under-16s seeking abortion care, under the guise of protecting them.

“And just last year, Right to Life went to court to try to shut down an early medication abortion service in Tauranga, making misleading claims about the safety of abortion.”

In her concurring Supreme Court opinion, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said “it is beyond rational belief that HB2 could genuinely protect the health of women”.

“The same could be said of every effort here to restrict access to abortion here in New Zealand,” Ms Bellamak said.

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