19 June 2018

Low Abortion Rate Will Be Welcomed By All

Family First NZ is welcoming the lowest rates of abortion since 1990 - but is sounding a warning that this positive trend will be reversed if Parliament removes the safeguards in the current abortion law and introduce extreme abortion laws which has been shown overseas to place women at risk, including sex-selective abortions and women being subject to coercion to have an abortion.

An independent poll of New Zealanders by Curia Market Research at the beginning of this year found 65% of respondents agreed that society should work together to reduce the number of abortions (only 17% disagreed). Of those who generally supported abortion, 63% agreed with reducing the number of abortions (19% disagreed). 74% of women agreed (56% of men).

“Why would we want to liberalise the current law and stop the positive trend of lower rates of abortions? I know how easy it is to obtain an abortion in New Zealand yet it is such a life-changing event for many and I believe we’re just touching the tip of an iceberg because abortion can harm women. Yet there are groups who refuse to acknowledge this, seeing the right to abortion more paramount than the long-term health and welfare of the women. I am one of those women, a statistic, who had an abortion and was deeply affected both emotionally and physically and I know I am not alone as I have come across many who have experienced the same, who’s stories are yet to be heard. This view is supported by half of New Zealanders,” says Marina Young, spokesperson for Family First NZ.

The poll earlier this year also found significant support for greater time limits on abortion, including from those who generally support abortion. There was also strong support for legal safeguards. Only 4% believe abortions should be allowed later than 20 weeks (including up to birth), as proposed by pro-abortion group ALRANZ.Significantly, 56% of women think the time limit should be less than the current 20 weeks.

“These results confirm that the Labour government has no mandate at all to liberalise the abortions laws. The vast majority of the population - including people who generally support abortion - show strong support and acceptance of the current legal framework and want the presence of safeguards around issues such as coercion, standards for providers, and informed consent.”

Other results included:

• 90% oppose sex selective abortions (Only 4% support). Women are 94% opposed, and 91% of those who generally support abortion are opposed.
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• 76% support doctors being required to verify a woman seeking an abortion is not under any coercion from a 3rd party (8% opposed). Women were 83% in support (men 69%). Of those who generally support abortion, 84% support this legal requirement.

“Contrary to misrepresentation by pro-abortion groups, New Zealand women are either satisfied with the current regulation of abortion or want it made more restrictive. Women are not made criminals by the current legislative guidelines and protections. To claim otherwise is simply false scaremongering aimed at deceiving people into supporting the introduction of an extreme abortion law in New Zealand. The existing safeguards are there to protect women from unlicensed premises and coercion, and they are ones most New Zealanders support.”

“Our concern is that taking away the current safeguards will simply result in women being rushed or pressured into abortions that they don’t actually want, and which the current system helps to protect against. Coercion to have an abortion is a big issue for some women,” says Mrs Young.

“The rate will continue to drop as knowledge of the prenatal development of the unborn child increases, and as an increasingly pro-life younger generation become parents themselves. The ‘bunch of cells’ argument which has driven the right-to-abortion argument is now just ‘flat-earth science’.”

“3-D ultrasounds and smartphone apps allowing parents to listen to the heartbeat of their unborn child and keep track of their baby’s progress in the womb, including heartbeats per minute, the number of times the baby kicks and the weight of the growing fetus, have contributed to an increasing awareness of the life of the child in the womb,” says Mrs Young.

ends

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