Abortion to shed Crimes Act mantle
Abortion will be removed from the Crimes Act, and treated as a health issue in a sweeping law reform announced by the Government.
The bill will also provide for ‘‘safe areas’’ around specific abortion facilities to be established on a case-by-case basis, which would be used to protect patients from being intimidated by anti-abortion protesters.
Abortion will be accessible without a statutory test for the first 20 weeks of pregnancy.
After 20 weeks, a health practitioner will have to certify the abortion is ‘‘appropriate with regard to the pregnant woman’s physical and mental health, and well-being’’.
The Government is keen to get the legislation passed quickly, and is establishing a special select committee to ensure the move isn’t hijacked by opponents. The change liberalises the current approach, which places abortion in the Crimes Act, and forces all women accessing abortion to seek the approval of two consultants.
The Government has chosen a compromise on proposals submitted by the Law Commission last year.
The commission proposed three models, of which A was the most liberal, B more conservative, and C a mix of the two. Justice Minister Andrew Little has chosen a watered-down version of C, which proposed setting the statutory test at 22 weeks instead of 20. It is understood this change was at the behest of NZ First.
The Government has gone against the wishes of health practitioners and professional bodies who were ‘‘almost unanimous’’ in their support of model A. They told the commission ‘‘women should be trusted to make decisions about what is best for their situation’’.
They were also hopeful it would encourage more practitioners, which would help to increase access.
However, it is understood there was always more support for model C, which is what the Government pursued in modified form.
PARLIAMENT
Parliament will now have the option to consider the legislation.
MPs will vote with their consciences, rather than their parties on the issue.
Recent conscience votes on David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Bill, suggest the Parliament has enough social liberals to give the bill a reasonable chance of passing.
Retiring National MP Amy Adams has been enlisted by the Government to win support for the reforms from within her party.
A special select committee will be established this week specifically for the bill.
This is a departure from the convention of sending bills to one of Parliament’s regular select committees.
It is understood this is to avoid a situation similar to the End of Life Choice Bill, in which opponents used the select committee to filibuster the bill, leading to the longest select committee process in history.
But social conservatives within Labour and National could put up a fight.
Organisations like Family First are gearing up to oppose the bill, saying it was ‘‘deeply anti-human rights’’.
This is in spite of the United Nations Human Rights Committee finding that states must provide safe access to abortion, and case from the New Zealand Court of Appeal in 1982 which found there were no enforceable rights for the foetus in abortion cases.
Abortion reform has some external support too, with Family Planning New Zealand welcoming the changes but saying it was disappointing women weren’t put ‘‘front and centre of the process’’.
ABORTION IN NZ
Abortion is common in New Zealand, and relatively in line with abortion rates internationally, according to the Law Commission. It cited a study produced by the Abortion Supervisory Committee, which estimates that roughly 30 per cent of women will have an abortion in their lifetime.
Abortion rates have been declining. In 2007, 18,382 were recorded, a rate of 20.1 procedures per 1000 women of child bearing age. This had reduced to 13,285 or 13.7 procedures per 1000 women by 2017.
The decrease was mainly among women under 24 and has been put down to the widespread uptake of long-acting contraceptives.
ROAD TO REFORM
In February last year, Little asked the Law Commission to look at possible reforms, noting the Government wanted to treat abortion as a health issue, rather than a criminal matter.
The Law Commission returned its report in October, which recommended three options to the Government. All options took the health approach, to a greater or lesser extent.
Model A allowed women to choose to have an abortion in consultation with a health practitioner. Model B would force women to meet a statutory test before being allowed an abortion.
The test would be in health legislation, rather than the Crimes Act as is currently the case. It would ask a health practitioner to confirm an abortion was ‘‘appropriate’’ with regard to a woman’s ‘‘physical and mental health and wellbeing’’.
Model C is a combination of Models A and B, with women having to meet the statutory test only if seeking an abortion after 22 weeks.
Little had planned to get draft legislation based on the commission’s findings ready to introduce earlier this year but negotiations with NZ First led to the reforms stalling.
NZ First Cabinet member Tracey Martin represented the party in negotiations with Little, and negotiated on the principle that abortion should be ‘‘safe, and legal and rare’’.
It is understood Martin managed to negotiate Little down from the 22 week position in option C, to 20 weeks.