Little to take plan to Govt for abortion reform

Justice Minister Andrew Little is expected take a plan for abortion reform to Cabinet soon, saying he expects to have legislation in place by early next year.

The content of that legislation will be critical in determining whether abortion reform becomes a reality 40 years after the law was first set.

MPs will get a conscience vote and while many are open to taking abortion out of the Crimes Act, some are hesitant to do so if it will lead to a much more liberal regime.

Little’s initial preference from three options put forward by the Law Commission would allow a woman to decide on an abortion until the pregnancy was more than 22 weeks advanced. After that, a doctor would have to decide if it was appropriate considering the mother’s mental and physical health.

National Party leader Simon Bridges’ stance has softened from his initial statement that the current law was his preference. He now sees room for modernisation and is open to removing it from the Crimes Act, but wants to see what Little puts forward.

“There is complexity in life. But I would be very loathe to have lateterm abortions at will, without checks and balances and medical input.”

He is leaning towards the same option Little prefers: “Where the Government is putting it up I do think it’s for them to make the case so we can assess it.”

He warned the Prime Minister that reform “fatigue” could set in. “A bit of friendly advice for the Prime Minister — New Zealanders may well have fatigue when it comes to all these chunky, yes serious, issues but complex ones when we are also trying to focus on the future direction of New Zealand come election time.”

He expected there would be a wide range of views in National ranks.

They include Judith Collins, who has questioned the need for any reform.

Amy Adams said she had tried to put abortion reform on the agenda when National was in government but it was ruled out. She was now keen to see reform happen and favoured the option Little did.

Labour MPs who supported reform were split between an option that gave women the final decision however far along a pregnancy was and the option Little supported.

Little said Cabinet would decide on a process before Christmas, and draft legislation was likely by early next year. The process would determine whether he consulted other parties prior to putting legislation forward or simply put up a bill and then consulted as part of that. It was possible a dedicated select committee would be set up for it, rather than adding it to the Justice or Health Select Committee because of public interest and number of submissions expected. That could mean legislation was passed by the end of 2019.