Dr. Antony Levatino who performed over 1,000 abortions testified at a House Judiciary Committee hearing about Planned Parenthood’s medical procedures. Planned Parenthood has been under fire after videos were released showing how the mega abortion provider sold fetal tissue to researchers. Dr. Levatino gave this expert testimony in 2015. Hear the reason he no longer performs abortions.
NewsTalk ZB 4 November 2018
Family First is trying to prick the Prime Minister’s conscience, in a debate about abortion.
The conservative lobby group has taken out a full page ad in today’s papers to ask: when does human life begin?
The ad points out the difficulty in defining the moment a foetus becomes a human whether it’s at conception, birth, or somewhere in between.
Labour campaigned on abortion reform, and Jacinda Ardern wants it taken out of the Crimes Act.
The open letter is signed by mothers who’ve had abortions.
They acknowledge it’s a complex debate, and they’re urging Ardern to err on the side of caution in any law change.
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/national/family-first-targets-abortion-reform-with-full-page-ad/
Women pen open letter to PM urging caution over abortion reform NewsHub 4 November 2018
A group of eight women who have had abortions have published an open letter to the Prime Minister regarding the potential changes to abortion law.
The women say there needs to be better support and information given to women who are making the decision.
Barbara Hill knows what it’s like to go through the process of abortion.
“It was expedient at the time – it solved the initial problem I had, but I didn’t realise until years later that I’d actually been grieving.”
That’s why she and seven other women who have also had abortions say they’ve taken out a full-page advertisement in the Sunday newspapers to publish an open letter to Jacinda Ardern.
The letter says: “We did what we thought was best at the time, encouraged, or in some cases pressured, by those around us. But we have suffered.”
It comes as the Government looks at abortion reform, including removing abortion from the Crimes Act and making it a health issue.
“We are looking at two facets of it, the medical side and the criminalisation, but we are not looking at the consequences,” Ms Hill says.
She’s calling for greater support and information to be given to women who are considering abortion, motivated by her own experience.
“Once I stepped on the medical conveyor belt, there was no counselling or any information around potential fallout,” Ms Hill said.
“All the other women I’ve spoken to, not one of them has had really in-depth counselling about the possible outcome of this.”
The open letter – authorised by Christian lobby group Family First – also asks Ms Ardern to err on the side of caution when making changes to the law.
The Prime Minister hadn’t yet read the letter when Newshub spoke to her, but said all views would be considered.
“As parliamentarians we will debate this, but there will be time for the public to have their say.”
She agrees with the letter writers that support for women considering abortion should be paramount.
“I imagine that will be a critical part of the discussion – that is the kind of support that I think all New Zealanders think should be in place.”
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/11/women-pen-open-letter-to-pm-urging-caution-over-abortion-reform.html
Abortion group says law is ‘changing too fast’ Radio NZ News 5 November 2018
A group of women who have had abortions have spoken out to caution the prime minister on law reform.
It follows a report back by the Law Commission that recommended ways to decriminalise abortion.
An open letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been published as a full-page advertisement in the Sunday Star Times, Herald on Sunday and will be published in the Dominion Post on Monday.
The open letter includes the names of the eight women and the number of children they have, including those they have aborted.
It is thought to be the first time in New Zealand history that a group of women who have had abortions have spoken publicly about their experience, a statement by the group said.
Spokesperson Barbara Hill said that it was time for an honest conversation about the impact abortion had.
“We began to feel that the law was changing too fast without any investigation of the fallout and consequences of abortion.”
Ms Hill could not say how much it cost to take out the three full-page advertisements.
She said the advertisements were funded by the eight women and a number of organisations, including Family First.
“What we would like to do is just draw it to the attention of both Jacinda Ardern and our MPs as well as the public that it needs to have more investigation.
“And people need to be aware – and one of the reasons people aren’t aware is because it’s people like me who remain silent.
“None of us have really had the courage until we all got together to actually stand up and say, ‘Well we need to remind people that there’s more to it than just a hospital procedure.’ ”
Ms Hill has worked with many women post-abortion as a mental health educator and found that many struggled with the emotional fallout.
“None of them have reported having counselling, most of the doctors seemed to be there for the medical side of things but not for the emotional side of things.
“I haven’t had any evidence to the contrary that women are being well-prepared for abortion – it’s been reported that mostly it’s treated as a procedure and it’s just some cells to get rid of.”
Ms Hill said she experienced grief and a range of emotional problems that she was not prepared for following her abortion.
“Initially, I had huge relief after I had an abortion. I thought it had solved my problem – I didn’t wish to be pregnant, it wasn’t a good time in my life, and I thought, in effect, I could get away with it.
“but I find, particularly with my next children, it was quite a problem for me to bond with them. I was quite an angry mother and I really had to weigh up what had caused this.”
However, reproductive rights campaigner Dame Margaret Sparrow said support and counselling was already available for women, and that she did not believe more support was needed.
Politicians are taking so long to deal with the urgent social issue of pornography harm in society, and are also continuing to call for a truly independent Expert Panel to investigate and provide solutions for families.
The Select Committee has been considering a 22,334-written petition calling for “an expert panel be appointed to investigate the public health effects and societal harms of pornography to both children and adults, and to make policy recommendations to Parliament” which was presented over 18 months ago. The committee is yet to release their report.
We do welcome the recent decision by the Select Committee as a result of our Submissions to expand the porn harm investigation to include adult usage and societal effects, but we are still concerned that the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) is overseeing the investigation. An effective inquiry needs to be completely independent from the industry and government who currently set the laws and standards and act as the ‘watchdog.
Many people see the Censor’s role as contributing to the overall problem by allowing objectionable material to be viewed by both young people and adults. It seems inappropriate to us that the ‘regulators’ are overseeing an analysis of the effects of the ‘regulation’. Placing the OFLC in charge of the investigation is like placing the ‘fox in charge of the hen house’.
A truly independent Expert Panel would be able to process the huge amount of international and national research in this area on the effects on health, the complex and contentious nature of the harms of pornography, the balance between appropriate censorship v freedom of expression, the role and equipping of parents, and other issues that arise, to provide an achievable solution to this health issue based on credible expertise.
We already know there’s a problem. It’s time for urgent solutions. The annual cost of sexual violence ($1.2 billion) warrants the one-off investment in this Expert Panel Inquiry.
The Ministry of Health in its submission on the petition acknowledged that “the content of pornography has changed significantly over the last 20 years and has become more extreme, deviant and violent” and that “violence towards women and girls is depicted in 80% of online content. This has a variety of harmful impacts on children and young people’s sexual expectations, attitudes, and behaviour.” However, the Ministry admits that it hasn’t undertaken any research in the area of pornography but is supportive of the petition’s call.
The response to our petition has been phenomenal, but indicative of the community concern over this issue. Society is starting to catch up with the science on the harms of pornography. There has been an important national conversation around consent and ‘rape culture’. At the same time, there is increasing consumption and availability of online pornography and sexual violence. It’s time we connected the dots.
A nationwide poll in April 2017 found high levels of concern around the effects of online pornography and its link to sexual violence, and the easy access that young people have to offensive material. It also found significant support for action from government and internet providers in terms of filtering and Opt-Out provisions.
If we want to tackle sexual violence, we must first admit the role that pornography plays and the harm that it does to attitudes and actions,
It is also highly ironic that the same broadcaster which has broadcast two series of “Naked Attraction” is currently highlighting the harms of pornography. Perhaps they can be part of the solution.
he ad points out the difficulty in defining the moment a foetus becomes a human whether it’s at conception, birth, or somewhere in between.
