Editorial: Right To Life out of line over Ardern

Mark Dawson, Editor of Wanganui Chronicle

Jacinda Ardern's meteoric rise has inevitably attracted a bit of sniper fire (not that it will unduly worry the newly-christened PM).

The latest salvo comes from Right To Life, an anti-abortion lobby group.

One would not want to doubt that group's sincerity in its concerns for the rights of the unborn child, and they take predictable offence at Ms Ardern's vow to de-criminalise abortion and make it a health issue. In fact, Right To Life promises "fierce opposition".

But the group seems to go a bit off kilter with its sense of outrage over other aspects of Ms Ardern's life.

She may not be guilty of having plagiarised any of the works of rapper Eminem, but there is unbridled umbrage that she is not married. "Living in sin" was a term once used, but surely not in this day and age?

RTL point out that it is "75 years since New Zealand had a prime minister who was not married and that was Michael Joseph Savage". I wasn't around during Savage's reign, but was he really so appalling? Did NZ descend into Sodom and Gomorrah under his watch?

Apparently Ms Ardern's preference to co-habit "with a man who is not her husband" will damage the country's reputation on the international stage.

Really? What about those French leaders who take their mistresses along to international conferences? What about Donald Trump and his "locker room" antics? What about the Saudis? I'd suggest Ms Ardern will appear a paragon of virture at most international get-togethers.

These lobbyists also see our leader as a threat to what they term "the natural family". Yet a woman who seems set to do her darnedest to eliminate child poverty and homelessness looks likely to do more for the family in one three-year term than the Right To Life collective will do in their lifetimes.

They bang on about "values" but their failure to attribute any to the prime minister reveals the paucity of their case.

Thank goodness they haven't heard of the latest dating app - Ja-Tinder.