New Zealand has passed legislation to have abortions treated as a health issue rather than in crime legislation, with the change passing on Wednesday by a vote of 68 to 51.
The legislation replaces abortion laws in place since 1977 and proposes that a woman should have access to abortion until 20 weeks of pregnancy, with advice from a doctor.
After 20 weeks, a pregnant woman would require a test and two doctors would have to agree that an abortion is the right decision.
Photo: AP
Under the old law, a woman could only legally get an abortion if two doctors certified that continuing the pregnancy would result in danger to her mental or physical health.
Statistics New Zealand data show that in 2018, 13,282 induced abortion were performed in the nation of about 4.7 million people.
New Zealand Minister of Justice Andrew Little said that the previous law meant that most women who received abortions lied about their mental health.
National Party lawmaker Simeon Brown, who opposed the change, said that fetuses have a heartbeat and feel pain, and should be considered a person who is treated with dignity and respect.
Jackie Edmond, chief executive of Family Planning, New Zealand’s largest referrer of women to abortion services, said she was thrilled with the vote.
“It’s fantastic that parliament has addressed something that they should have addressed 40 years ago,” Edmond said.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in 2017 promised on the campaign trail that the issue would be brought to a vote.
Margaret Sparrow was 21 years old when she drank a concoction to induce an abortion, now aged 84, she said she was delighted with the law change.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Sparrow, a doctor who is an abortion advocate.
Sparrow said it was not so much her own experience of having an abortion that motivated her work over the decades, but more recognizing that there was an unfilled need for women.
She began her career helping students get access to contraception and for several years helped send people to Australia to get abortions before the first New Zealand clinic opened.
She said that Roe v Wade the 1973 US Supreme Court decision gave people hope for change in New Zealand.
Sparrow said that the new law was a step forward, but her work is not done yet.
“It will be safer for women and better for access,” she said. “The next stage is making sure it’s implemented.”
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