Killing Unborn Children A Justice Issue Not A Health Issue

Right to Life New Zealand is totally opposed to the proposal of the Hon Steve Chadwicke MP to introduce a private members Bill to decriminalize abortion in New Zealand.

• If the Bill were passed It would no longer be a crime to kill an unborn child.

• The Bill denies that the unborn child is a human being endowed with human rights.

• The proposed Bill effectively provides for abortion on demand up to birth

• The Bill is an assault on human rights, the dignity of women and an assault on the conscience of the nation.

• Parliament has a solemn duty to protect the human rights of the weak and vulnerable in society. It would be an appalling injustice for Parliament to withdraw legal protection for the right to life of unborn children the weakest and most vulnerable members of the human family..

Human life begins at conception, at the moment of conception our Creator bestows on the newly created person inalienable human rights, the foundation right being a right to life. From the moment of conception the unborn child should be accorded the respect and protection due to the human person. Thomas Jefferson, a former President of the USA stated that; “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government.” The Hon Steve Chadwicke is wrong in assuming that Parliament has the right to confer human rights on the unborn or to withdraw them. Our human rights are not conferred on us by the State or by society. It would thus be a serious violation of human rights for Parliament to withdraw protection for the human rights of unborn children.

Abortion is a crime in New Zealand and is found in the Crimes Act 1961, in the section for crimes against the person, section 182. Killing Unborn child-. The section states that on conviction for killing an unborn child one may be imprisoned for a term not exceeding 14 years. The Crimes Act also provides that in rare and unusual circumstances an abortion may be permitted under section 187A.

• The Hon Steve Chadwicke falsely claims that this is “a human rights issue, a women’s health issue.” There is no human right that gives women the right to kill their own child. If we legalised abortion on demand it would become unlawful for a doctor to encourage a woman seeking an abortion to choose life for her baby. The doctor would have also have a legal obligation to facilitate an abortion, this would result in further exploitation and manipulation of vulnerable women by the fathers of their children who seek to avoid responsibility for the children they have fathered.

It is appalling that at this time when there is increasing evidence of the physical, psychological and spiritual damage inflicted on women by abortion that we would contemplate the decriminalization of abortion. Right to Life is opposed to the war against our own children and will vigorously campaign against this proposed lethal attack.Right to Life urges all concerned citizens to write to their local MPs encouraging them to oppose this proposed Bill and to support increased legal protection for our unborn children. What future does a nation have that kills its own children?

ENDS

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