17 June 2008
Media Release
Abortion Statistics – 2007
Right to Life is deeply disappointed at the 18,380 abortions reported for 2007. This is the second highest number of
abortions reported in New Zealand. It is 450 more abortions than the 17,930 reported in 2,006.
Each abortion is a tragedy for the unborn child that is destroyed and for the mother who is the second victim of
abortion. Abortion is the ultimate in domestic violence and in child abuse; women will not be safe until the law
effectively protects them and their unborn.
There were 90 non family adoptions in New Zealand last year. There are thousands of loving families that long to adopt
these babies. Why does the government not promote adoption as a loving option?
These statistics represent the continued exploitation and abuse of vulnerable women. Often it is not women who choose
abortion, it is often a decision made by others. Studies conducted in the United States reveal that 64 per cent of women
who have an abortion are coerced by others through emotional blackmail, coercion threats or violence from boyfriends,
husbands, parents, employer’s doctors, counsellors or others. Frequently the father of the unborn child refuses to
accept responsibility for the child he has fathered and threatens to abandon the mother if she does not have an
abortion. In the United States murder is the leading cause of death among pregnant women who refuse to abort their
child.
Right to Life fervently hopes that violence against women and their unborn will be eliminated with the implementation of
the recent judgment of the High Court which will require the Abortion Supervisory Committee to hold certifying
consultants accountable for the lawfulness of the abortions that they authorise,
Right to Life has advocated to the Committee that all women considering an abortion be given the opportunity of choosing
to view an ultrasound scan of their child in the womb. It is scandalous that the protocol followed in abortion clinics
cruelly denies women this opportunity even when they request it. Studies done in the United States reveal that more than
70 per cent of women who see an ultrasound scan of their baby refuse to have an abortion
Ken Orr
Spokesperson .
ENDS