Dear Ministers Clark, Little, and Genter,
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act. Its main purpose was to grudgingly permit abortions, but only in some circumstances. Forty years on, abortion remains a crime in New Zealand.
The effect of this outdated law is that people wanting to end their pregnancies must get two doctors to sign off on their choice, and say that continuing their pregnancy would cause 'serious danger to [their] physical or mental health'.This means they often have to lie about their mental health to get the health care they need. Ninety eight percent of abortions are 'allowed' on the mental health grounds.
It's time for a change and the majority of New Zealanders support this. We call on you to reform the law, remove abortion from the Crimes Act and allow the decision to have an abortion to stay between the person and their GP.
Why is this important?