11 September 2017

Jacinda’s Position on Abortion Law Still Unclear For Voters

Family First NZ is still calling on specifics of what Labour leader Jacinda Ardern is proposing for New Zealand’s abortion laws, and is concerned that she misunderstands the law as it stands.

At the Newstalk ZB’s Leaders Breakfast this morning, National Director Bob McCoskrie’s question was put to her: “Law abortion reform group ALRANZ have publicly endorsed your pledge to liberalise the abortion laws, they have a preferred new law based on Canada’s which would legalise abortion on demand up to birth, would you personally vote for a Bill along these lines or would you maintain the current restrictions, ie how many weeks?”

Ms Ardern responded: “Yes I think abortion should come out of the Crimes Act, that does not mean for a moment that I am proposing what has been claimed, that you should be able to have on-demand abortion to birth. No that is absolutely not what I am saying. We of course must regulate. We of course must make sure that abortion is safe. That does not make keeping it in the Crimes Act, but it will still be regulated…”

In response to a further question by the host “On demand abortion until when then?” Ms Ardern said; “They have said until 40 weeks at the moment, which is wrong, which is wrong. We have time periods already set out in the law and I am not proposing changes to that. I am proposing it comes out of the Crimes Act.”

“Whilst Ms Ardern has rejected the most extreme proposal put forward by abortion pressure group ALRANZ, headed up by American abortion lobbyist Terry Bellamak, she has still committed to weakening New Zealand’s abortion laws, and is still providing very little detail on how this would work in practice. But voters deserve to know exactly what she has in mind on such an important issue for them,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

“The Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand have been lobbying for the introduction of extreme abortion laws by explicitly calling for abortion on demand up to birth on their website, even proposing a version of a bill to do this in New Zealand based on Canada’s law.”

“We still hold major reservations after hearing Jacinda Ardern’s response to our question. On the one hand she has indicated that she personally does not want to see abortion up to birth in New Zealand but, at the same time, still has not provided any concrete policy details about what this new law will actually result in. This means that there is still confusion and uncertainty about exactly how liberal our abortion laws will become under her leadership,” says Mr McCoskrie.

“On top of this, she didn’t actually state whether she would vote against such a bill if it were put before parliament, even though that was the specific - and only - question we asked her to answer.”

“Contrary to misrepresentation by pro-abortion groups, any New Zealand woman who has an abortion under the current legislative guidelines and protections is not committing an illegal act, and is therefore not considered a criminal. This claim is simply false scaremongering aimed at deceiving people into supporting the introduction of an extreme abortion law in New Zealand. The existing safeguards are there to protect women from unlicensed premises and coercion.”

“Our concern is that taking away the current safeguards will simply result in women being rushed or pressured into abortions that they don’t actually want, and which the current system helps to protect against. Coercion to have an abortion is a big issue for some women,” says Mr McCoskrie.

“Voters deserve more details and certainty on such a controversial social issue.”

AUDIO: https://www.familyfirst.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Jacinda-on-Abortion-Newstalk-ZB-11-Sep-2017.mp3

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