The unborn child will lose all rights under a bill to change New Zealand’s abortion laws, and women pressured into abortion will not receive the help they need, the country’s Catholic bishops have warned.
“In the womb, the child already has its own unique genetic identity and whakapapa. Our abortion laws must reflect this reality,” said Cynthia Piper, a spokeswoman for the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference.
“It is a major failing of the proposed new law that there will no longer be any statutory requirement to consider the rights of the unborn child. That is totally unacceptable to the bishops and many New Zealanders.”
The New Zealand Parliament’s Abortion Legislation Select Committee has recommended changing abortion law to remove any legal restrictions for abortion up to 20 weeks into pregnancy, and thus “effectively introducing abortion on demand,” the bishops’ conference said Feb. 19. The bill has already passed the first reading.
Under the proposal, pregnancies more than 20 weeks into pregnancy would require a health practitioner to believe with reason that the abortion is “appropriate” given the women’s physical and mental health and well-being. Piper objected that such criteria are not defined and are too subjective and broad.
Changes for abortion after 20 weeks into pregnancy will “significantly widen” the ability to choose abortion of an unborn child on the basis of disability, objected Piper. The proposed bill removes all references to fetal abnormalities, while current law cites them as a reason for abortion only up to 20 weeks.
“The coercive reality of societal, familial and economic pressures that arise when a woman suddenly finds herself with an unplanned pregnancy is well documented,” she said. “The select committee itself acknowledges that they heard from several submitters, particularly young women, who believed they might not have chosen abortion if they had received more support. But what is being proposed will not help women in this situation make different decisions.”
The select committee received more than 25,700 written submissions on the proposal to change abortion law. About 90% of submissions opposed the change, the bishops said.
In September 2019 the Catholic bishops’ conference made an 11-page submission to the committee, jointly authored by their bioethics-focused agency The Nathaniel Centre. CNA
