Little won’t re-insert ‘safe zones’ into bill

Justice Minister Andrew Little will not try to re-introduce ‘‘safe zones’’ into his abortion legalisation bill after a procedural snafu saw them removed on Tuesday night.

Yet other MPs who are for the safe zones have indicated they might.

The proposed safe zones would set up a regime where protest and harassment of those seeking abortions could be barred within 150 metres of clinics. But some MPs are against the safe zones on free speech grounds, including several who support the wider abortion legalisation bill.

Abortion is generally treated as a ‘‘conscience issue’’ – meaning MPs can vote freely of their parties, which can make things much more chaotic. On a late night sitting on Tuesday night those against the safe zones actually lost their first attempt to remove them, when an amendment deleting the definition of safe zones lost 59 votes to 56.

But a second attempt by ACT leader David Seymour was more successful essentially by accident, when an amendment removing essential functions of the safe areas was passed by a simple voice vote. This means MPs simply yelled out their preference, and because nobody called for votes to be actually counted the amendment was passed based on whose voices sounded louder.

There are options that Little could take to re-insert the safe zones into the bill, presuming he had the support of more than half of the House.

These are an ‘‘instruction to the committee’’ and a ‘‘recommittal’’ – but both would open up the Government to hours more debate, and could still see the safe zones removed, if the numbers had changed at all since the first vote. But Little said in a statement he would not be attempting to reinsert the safe zones into the bill.

‘‘The safe zone provision was always the most marginally supported,’’ Little said.

He said it wasn’t clear if Seymour’s amendment actually had the numbers but he would not be pursuing further change as the ‘‘substance of the bill’’ remained.

‘‘That will be the focus going forward. The Government will not

‘‘The safe zone provision was always the most marginally supported.’’ Andrew Little

be looking to undo the [amendment] vote as the Abortion Legislation Bill progresses through the remaining stages in the House.’’

Seymour told Stuff he was pleased but would not count his chickens until the wider bill – which he supports – was passed.

‘‘If that’s the position Andrew Little is taking then that is the honourable position to take and ultimately the right policy outcome. As the Law Commission said it is not a problem that is not dealt with by current law and the impairment of free speech is not justified.’’

The bill is likely to pass the third reading, having sailed through its second reading last week 81 votes to 39.