This email is sent with a sense of urgency. The Labour-led Government is reviewing the abortion laws because Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says that abortion should not be covered in the Crimes Act and that she wants, “women who want access to be able to have it as a right.”
Those who argue for the decriminalisation of abortion do so by prioritising the right of the pregnant woman to self-determination regarding decisions affecting her own body. The right of the unborn child to life, even the humanity of the unborn baby, must be considered secondary or denied entirely. But this creates an inconsistency with s182 of the Crimes Act 1961:
182 Killing unborn child (1) Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years who causes the death of any child that has not become a human being in such a manner that he or she would have been guilty of murder if the child had become a human being.
To remove legislation about abortion from the criminal code and insert it to the health code is to equate a procedure to remove an unborn baby with a procedure to remove an appendix. This, again, is to deny the humanity of the baby and creates inconsistency with other legislation which clearly recognises the rights of the unborn child.
Will you speak up for the health of the mother and the health of the unborn child – the legal safety of the mother and the legal status of the unborn child. It’s not “a political issue”.
Submissions to the Law Commission are due by 5pm 18 May 2018 – that’s this Friday!
