Court case a bid to raise abortion issue, says MP

Court action claiming that too many abortions are being allowed is a pre-election bid to raise the focus on a divisive issue, says Health Select Committee chairwoman Steve Chadwick.

The anti-abortion group, Right To Life New Zealand, has filed legal action in the High Court at Wellington against the Abortion Supervisory Committee, saying it has misinterpreted the law and allowed too many pregnancy terminations.

It said the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977 was passed "with the objectives of stopping abortion on demand and to provide effective legal protection for unborn children".

Successive governments since 1978 had failed to correctly apply the Act, it said.

The interpretations by the Government and the committee had in fact produced abortion on demand, Right To Life said.

Ms Chadwick told National Radio today she would like to see the law reviewed in the next term of government but needed to convince her colleagues. She was not talking about limiting the right to have an abortion.

"I see this (the court action) as a very clever pre-election bid to raise the focus on yet another really deeply divisive issue that concerns all New Zealanders.

"I'd rather do it after the election and do it properly and comprehensively," she said.

While the law was dated it had worked well, and did not allow abortion on demand, she said.

Women had to "go through quite a lot of hoops" to get an abortion, Ms Chadwick said.

"It's not something that's undertaken lightly.

"I think all of us really are concerned about the numbers of terminations done, but I'd turn that around and say, 'are women getting appropriate access to contraception advice'?"

Abortion Law Reform Association president Margaret Sparrow said the court case was a last ditch attempt by Right To Life to try to stop abortions.

But she thought the majority of women would see a need to liberalise the law, which had many faults.

The current law was being interpreted quite liberally, although not everywhere in the country.

It was still possible for doctors to refuse to refer people for abortions, Dr Sparrow said.

Forcing any woman to carry on an unplanned pregnancy against her wishes could be a risk to her emotional and mental health.

Women needed safe abortions and if they were not available, poor women would turn to self-abortion and illegal abortion, she said.

Politicians needed to accept the present law was not working and a better system was needed.

The supervisory committee reported to Parliament in October last year that 18,511 abortions were performed in 2003.

- NZPA