Footprints Magazine
March 2005
Right
to Life
in High
Court Action
Right
to Life New Zealand is filing proceedings against the Abortion Supervisory
Committee in the High Court in Wellington. The second defendant is the Attorney
General. Right to Life requests that the Court order the Committee to
fulfill its statutory duties as laid out in the Contraception
Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977.
The Act was passed by Parliament with the objectives of stopping
abortion on demand and providing effective legal protection for unborn
children in New Zealand. The objectives of the statute are set out in the
long title of the Act. It states “….to provide for the circumstances
and procedures under which abortions may be authorised after having full
regard to the rights of the unborn child.” Right to Life will present
evidence to the Court that the Committee has failed to fulfill the
objectives of this Act with little regard being given to the rights of
unborn children.
Right
to Life believes that the inalienable right to life of every human
individual is a constitutive element of a civil society. The first duty of
the state is therefore to provide effective legal protection for the right
to life bestowed by God on every human being at conception. Since 1978,
shamefully successive governments and Parliament have failed to fulfil
this fundamental duty. During the term of this current government nearly
100,000 unborn babies have been killed in a system approved and funded by
the state.
Right
to Life in instituting this important action is concerned not only for
protecting the rights of unborn children but also for the health
and welfare of their mothers who are the second victims of abortion.
Tragically the objectives of the Act have not been achieved. We continue
to have abortion on demand. Since 1977 nearly 300,000 New Zealanders have
been destroyed in their mothers’ wombs. This represents one abortion for
every three live births. There were 18,510 abortions reported for 2003; on
the basis of 27 children per classroom this represents 685 classrooms of
children who will not be starting school in 2008. The total of nearly
300,000 abortions represents a total of 11,111 classrooms. If these
children had been born many of them would have married and have had their
own children in the education system.
Right to Life believes that we have a regime of unlawful abortions
in New Zealand. Ninety-eight percent of abortions are authorised on the
grounds of mental health. It is our belief that these abortions are for
socio –economic reasons masquerading as psychiatric. Abortions
authorised for socio-economic reasons are unlawful. Evidence will be given
by Right to Life that the Committee has failed to hold certifying
consultants accountable for the lawfulness of their authorisations of
abortion. Reactive depression is the diagnosis used by consultants
authorising abortions on mental health grounds. Evidence will also be
given that the correct treatment for a woman suffering from reactive
depression is counseling and medication, not the destruction of her child
which may have serious psychiatric consequences for the distressed woman.
Right to Life is confident that the Court will uphold the law,
which will provide increased respect and legal protection for the women of
New Zealand and their babies. This is the human rights and justice issue
of this era.
The
Abortion Supervisory Committee is appointed by Parliament and is
accountable to Parliament for the performance of its statutory duties set
out in the Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion Act, 1977. Each year
the Committee presents its report to Parliament on the Committee’s
activities. Since 1995 the Committee has been subject to a number of
audits, reviews, and one investigation by a Parliamentary select
committee.
Right to
Life for many years has vigorously lobbied Parliamentarians and Government
seeking justice for unborn children and their mothers. There are many MPs
who are appalled at the continuing violation of the human rights of our
unborn. Sadly their voices are out-voted by the majority of MPs who
wrongly believe that abortion is a woman’s choice.
There is
thus a lack of political will at this time within Parliament to protect
the inalienable right to life of our unborn children and to ensure that
the current legislation is upheld. Right to Life therefore passionately
believes that in the pursuit of justice we must now turn to the courts.
Our
society is greatly indebted to our Queens Counsel who fully and
enthusiastically supports our course by offering his services at the low
fee level of legal aid. Please pray for God’s blessing on this important
initiative.
Abortion
Supervisory Committee
Parliament is expected to make appointments to the Abortion
Supervisory Committee in the first half of this year.
Right to Life in December wrote to the then Associate
Minister of Justice the Hon David Benson-Pope noting that the three year
appointment of the Committee expired on
30th September
2004
. In view of their shameful record of inaction as they presided over the
abortion industry that killed more than 18000 babies each year we asked
that they be replaced with a committee that would ensure that a regime of
unlawful abortions would cease and that unborn children and their mothers
receive the full protection of the law. We also recommended that a retired
District Court judge be appointed as chairman to ensure that the law is
upheld and that full consideration of the rights of unborn children is
given.
Right to Life has been advised by a reliable Parliamentary
source that Mrs Marlene Lamb JP is not seeking reappointment to the
committee. Drs Rothwell and Reid are available for reappointment. The
appointments are made by Parliament in a conscience vote. Nominations will
be made by the Hon Marion Hobbs the newly appointed Associate
Minister of Justice in a notice of motion to Parliament. Nominations may
also be made by individual MPs.
Right to Life is writing to all MPs asking that the Committee
be replaced with suitable persons who will uphold the law to ensure that
our unborn children and their mothers receive the full protection of the
law.
Please pray for the success of this important campaign.
Message from the President
Dear Members,
New Zealand
is a country that has been badly hurt by
abortion. Abortion is not a topic that you often hear talked about these
days. It would seem that too many New Zealanders have been affected by it.
It is almost a taboo subject now, one that is shunned in nearly every
social circumstance. But beneath that veneer of acceptability, abortion
nevertheless has damaged us, individually and as a society. It is widely
promoted and practiced as a cure-all for an unwanted pregnancy but has
left a bitter trail. Far too many unborn children have been lost. Far too
many women damaged. Far too little has been acknowledged of the damage
that abortion does in fact do, to women themselves. Among the forgotten
victims of abortion are the fathers who have lost the children that would
otherwise have been theirs, and the grandparents. What are we to make of
their loss? Is it even considered? We believe that it is timely and
important that
New Zealand
now collectively re‑examines the
abortion issue, this blight on our moral, ethical and demographic
landscape.
I
am not going to quote lots of statistics but there are two I would ask you
to keep in mind. Every week in our nation, the equivalent of thirteen
classrooms of
New Zealand
unborn children never see the light of day
because of abortion. Over 300,000 of our unborn children have been lost
since the Contraception Sterilization and Abortion (CS&A) Act was
introduced in 1977.
Right
to Life New
Zealand
believes it is time that we stop treating
the weakest and most defenceless class of human beings as an unwanted
commodity.
Our
aims and goals are clear: we believe that human life is a gift from God
and is sacred. We wish to see human life given full legal protection from
conception to natural death. While in the past we have been concerned with
the issue of abortion our society is rapidly moving into a phase where the
deadly bloom of the lack of respect for life is expanding, and we now see
a greater push for euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, embryonic stem
cell research and human cloning. Our efforts now must include these areas.
What is next?
Many
in this country believe that euthanasia should be introduced here and that
it can be controlled. If you meet people with these views please just
remind them of this: in 1977, even those who sought and introduced the
CS&A Act never realised or intended that it would open the floodgates
to allow hundreds of thousands of abortions and 98% of them to be done on
purely cosmetic and social grounds. Yet through a small legal loophole in
the law, this is what has rapidly happened. This wrong has never been
addressed. Why? Because once a dam cracks the damage is done. The few who
rallied against the injustice of the CS&A Act were soon overwhelmed by
the selfishness of those who live in this consumer saturated society. The
same will happen if we now authorize the killing of our elderly unwell.
Make absolutely no mistake, once any class of human life is at risk, then
the right to life of all human beings is at risk.
Again
we must urge you to do all you can to speak out against any measure that
is sought to be introduced into our country which ultimately devalues
human life. Be sure you will not have to wait long. Edmund Burke, a famous
18th century politician, once said words to the effect that “Evil will
flourish if good men do nothing”.
Chris O’Brien
DOHA
declaration
promotes family
and marriage
On
December 7 the UN General Assembly, in a commemoration of the 10th
Anniversary of the International Year of the Family, adopted the most
far-reaching and significant declaration on the family for two decades;
139 countries out of 192 were in favour.
New Zealand
, however, along
with
Canada
and a range of
European countries, disassociated itself from that declaration. So far,
with one exception, neither the declaration nor the disassociation has
been reported in the
New Zealand
media. In
addition, the United Future MP, Larry Baldock, could not get leave of
Parliament to note with regret the dissent expressed by
New Zealand
's representative.
The
declaration adopted by the UN was the Doha Declaration for the Family,
drawn up by representatives of governments and NGOs who met in
Doha
,
Qatar
, at the end of
November for the Doha International Conference for the Family.
It
was the final of a series of meetings held earlier in the year in
Benin
,
Mexico
City,
Stockholm
,
Geneva
, and
Kuala Lumpur
. At all of these
meetings, thousands of academics, government officials and UN
representatives formulated the Declaration.
The
Declaration reaffirms international commitments to the family and calls
upon "all governments, international organizations and members of
civil society to take action to protect the family". It stated
"the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and
is entitled to the widest possible protection and assistance by society
and the State."
The
Declaration also emphasised "that marriage be entered into fully and
freely and that husband and wife be treated as equals; that governments
uphold, preserve and defend the institution of marriage; that governments
strengthen the functioning of the family by involving parents in the
education of their children;" and that governments "reaffirm
that parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall
be given to their children."
The
UN seems to be moving away from the ideological notions of diversity
formulated in the Programme of Action which followed the International
Conference on Population and Development in
Cairo
, in September
1994.
Promoting
the declaration,
US
representative
Wade Horn told the UN that "the family remains a universal and
irreplaceable community rooted in human nature. As the cradle of life and
love for each new generation, the family remains the primary source of
identity and self-esteem for individuals, and also remains uniquely suited
to teaching morals, character and wisdom. The family continues to provide
a vital means of preserving and transmitting social values, and remains
indispensable to civil society in transforming helpless babes into
independent adults."
The
context here is critical if we are to understand what is going on. Over
the last few decades a momentous debate has been sweeping across the world
concerning the health and future prospects of the family.
The
debate is about real issues in both developed and developing countries. In
every one there is concern about the ability of the family to perform its
customary tasks.
Right
to Life wrote to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, The Hon Phil Goff, to
express our society’s disappointment at the refusal of the New Zealand
Government to support this Declaration. We asked why the Government was
refusing to uphold the family.
The
Minister replied on
21 January 2005
: “
New Zealand
is a strong
supporter of a diverse range of families.”
Right of Life accepts that there are single parent families, de facto
relationships and other forms of extended families; all should be embraced
and supported. The fact remains that the married family comprising husband
and wife is the ideal established by God and should be the model given
priority by governments to be respected and protected by legislation.
MORE BABIES
BORN IN
2003
Two
thousand more babies were born in
New Zealand
in 2003 than in
the year before reports Statistics New Zealand.
There
were 56 130 live births in 2003 compared with 54 020 in 2002. The 2003
figure is the highest since 2000 when 56 600 babies were born.
New Zealand
women average 1.96
births per woman, 7 per cent below the level required to replace the
population without migration. Women are now having children five years
later than in the 1970s. The median age of women giving birth is now 30.2,
compared with 24.9 years in the early 1970s.
United Nations (UN):
Abortion a Human Right
In August 2004 the committee charged with monitoring
nations’ compliance with the UN Convention on the Elimination of all
forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) listened with approval to a
submission from the NGO Centre for Reproductive Rights. The NGO advocated
that all states should recognise abortion as a human right and remove all
laws that restrict a woman’s right to an abortion at any stage of
gestation.
In 1995 at the UN Conference at
Beijing
there was a concerted
attempt by many NGOs to define “reproductive health rights” as
including a human right to an abortion. After intense lobbying the
proposal was defeated; however proponents of a culture of death continue
to promote their agenda.
In March 2005 at the UN, the
US
Ambassador Ellen Sawbrey
head of the
US
delegation told the
press that, “there is no fundamental right to abortion.” She opposed
the continuing attempt of many NGOs to hijack the UN. The ambassador
proposed an amendment to clarify the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform
for Action to reject abortion as a human right.
Opposition to this amendment was made by
Canada
, many European nations
and
New Zealand
.
Ruth Dyson, Minister for Women’s Affairs of New Zealand
praised abortion, supporting NGOs, and said “Beijing contained clear
commitments on women’s sexual and reproductive health rights, and the
right to control their own sexuality. Those commitments must be
implemented.”
Abortion legislation in
New Zealand
does not allow abortion
as a human right. The Government has a serious duty to uphold the
principles of
New Zealand
law here at
international forums including the United Nations.
Right to Life has written to the Hon Ruth Dyson to express
our society’s concerns and to seek an explanation for her inappropriate
statement.
Relationships (Statutory References) Bill
On the 8th of March Parliament passed the second
reading of this controversial Bill by 77 to 48. 7 United Future MPs voted
against this Bill, one voted for the Bill. The Bill seeks to amend over
100 pieces of legislation to provide equality for those in a civil union
or de facto relationship with those in marriage. The Bill is expected to
pass into law at its 3rd reading in April.
Right to Life has opposed this Bill in principle since its
inception. The select committee report on this Bill decided not to extend
all the legal rights of marriage to de facto couples.
United Future MP Murray Smith, a member of the select
committee, stated that he dissented from the committee’s report because
it did not recognise the value of marriage.
Abortion Law Reform Association (ALRANZ)
ALRANZ is at the forefront of the abortion movement. The
Association's National President is Dr Margaret Sparrow. She was formerly
an abortionist, a certifying consultant and Medical Director of the
Parkview Abortion Clinic. Dr Sparrow is frequently called upon by the
media to offer comment on questions concerning abortion.
ALRANZ is in fact a very small organisation. The financial
statement for ALRANZ for 2003 reveals that their paid membership does not
exceed 100 members. This clearly indicates that the aims and objectives of
this Association have very little active support in the community. ALRANZ
was incorporated in February 1972. Dr Sparrow has been National President
for thirty two years.
ALRANZ pamphlets indicate that the Association wants abortion
to be decriminalised ie it should no longer be a crime to kill an unborn
child. Abortion should be a woman's right to choose. Right to Life is
opposed to these objectives which promote a culture of death. The
minuscule support for ALRANZ should be a source of encouragement to the
prolife movement in
New Zealand
.
Amniocentesis
Search and Destroy
This procedure is used in the second trimester to diagnose
the condition of Downs Syndrome in an unborn child. A needle is inserted
into the uterus of the mother and a blood sample is taken from the
umbilical cord. The objective is not to treat the child but to give the
mother the “option” of having the child killed by abortion. The
diagnosis of Downs Syndrome is often false. For every child diagnosed
through amniocentesis as having Downs Syndrome, four healthy babies
die from a miscarriage as a direct result of amniocentesis.
Society News
Parliamentary
Lobbying
Nine
MPs were lobbied at a meeting at Parliament during the week 15 – 18
November. The MPs were Gordon Copeland, Tariana Turia, Dave Hereora, Larry
Baldock, Nick Smith, Murray Smith, Judith Collins, Craig McNair and Bill
Gudgeon.
The
meetings were very positive and provided an opportunity to raise the
members awareness on the plight of the unborn child and other life issues.
The
issues discussed were the need for a Parliamentary enquiry into the
current regime of unlawful abortions, the need for an amendment to the
Care of Children Bill to make it a legal requirement that abortions may
not be performed on a girl under the age of 16 without the knowledge or
consent of the parents. All the MPs met supported a Parliamentary enquiry
into the lawfulness of abortions. A number of MPs agreed to write to the
Abortion Supervisory Committee to encourage them to have the information
booklet “Considering an Abortion? What are Your Options?” reprinted.
Political Parties’
Election Policy
Right
to Life has written to the major political parties making a submission
that they should have a strong pro-life policy for this election. We have
asked that the foundation of that policy should be upholding the sanctity
of life ethic acknowledging the God-given inalienable right to life of
every human being from conception to natural death.
Abortion
Complications
In
June 2004 the society wrote to the Minister drawing her attention to the
fact that a survey conducted by this society of eight major District
Health Boards (DHBs) revealed a serious disparity between the
complications recorded by some DHBs following abortions and those reported
by abortion operating surgeons to the Abortion Supervisory Committee
(ASC). In addition several DHBs were unable to provide this society with
the requested statistics. It was the opinion of this society that there
was serious under-reporting in some areas. The Minister has disclaimed any
responsibility for the records’ procedures of DHBs. A further letter has
been sent to the Minister requesting that she direct DHBs to record those
important statistics. A letter has also been sent to the ASC expressing
concern at the under reporting of abortion complications to the Committee.
Women
considering an abortion have a right to know what is the true complication
rate following an abortion in
New Zealand
.
Mental
Health
A
letter has been sent to the Minister asking her what is the treatment
recommended by her Ministry for Reactive Depression. This condition is an
officially sanctioned diagnosis of clinically significant depression as
defined by 1CD9CM,
New Zealand
’s official classification of disease as
applied by the Ministry.
98%
of abortions in
New Zealand
are authorised on the grounds of mental
health with the diagnosis reactive depression now called adjustment
disorder with depressed mood. The international literature of the
psychiatric profession states that mental ill health is a
contra-indication for abortion. The Minister replied, “It is not
appropriate for the Ministry of Health to suggest treatment for Reactive
Depression. If a woman is concerned that a particular medical practitioner
has misdiagnosed her mental health, she could lodge a complaint under the
Health Practitioners Competency Assurance Act 2003 or with the Health
& Disability Commissioner.”
District
Health Boards (DHBs)
Right
to Life has written to five DHBs where most of the abortions in
New Zealand
are performed. We advised them that this
society was opposed to them holding a licence issued by the Abortion
Supervisory Committee to kill unborn children. We reminded them that they
had a serious moral obligation to protect the lives of their unborn
patients and not to terminate their lives. We reminded them of how many
unborn children had been killed in their DHB since the passing of the
CS&A Act in 1977. The Auckland DHB was the only DHB to reply. They
advised that abortions performed at their DHB were lawful and that they
would continue to hold a licence.
The
shameful toll of abortions for each of these DHBs since 1977 to 2003 as
follows:
Auckland
DHB
97545
Canterbury
DHB
50408
Coast
and Capital DHB 43830
Waikato
DHB
15405
Otago DHB
10366
Society
AGM—Advance Notice
The AGM of the society will be held on the 26th
April at Christ the King Parish Centre at Greers Rd. Members are
encouraged to attend this important meeting to elect a new executive, to
receive the President’s
and Treasurer’s
reports, and to support the society in its mission to defend the right to
life from conception to natural death. Our guest speaker will be Hon. Bill
English MP.
Media
Media
Release
Right to Life made a media release to newspapers, radio and
TV on the issue of Pre Implantation Genetic Diagnosis.
Newspapers
Letters were sent to the Dominion, New Zealand Herald and the
Press on mourning the victims of the Tsunami, pointing out that the
Government decrees a minute’s silence for the victims and yet grants not
even a second’s silence for the 100,000 babies that have been killed
before birth in New Zealand during the term of this Government, sanctioned
and funded by this Government. The Government also pledged $60 million in
aid, while spending $100 million to fund the abortion industry since they
came to power.
Letters were also sent to these newspapers on the issue of
PGD and the UN Doha Declaration.
Letters from our society were published by the Press on under
age prostitution and by the NZ Catholic on PGD, the Doha Declaration and
the HART Bill.
Children’s
Commissioner
Right to Life wrote to the newly appointed Children’s
Commissioner presenting her with a submission that her commission should
also accept responsibility for the welfare
and advocacy of unborn children.
The Commissioner responded: “The Commissioner has
responsibility for children from birth and thus the pre-natal period is
outside the mandate of this office. “
There is an urgent need for a Government-appointed and
‑funded advocate for
New Zealand
’s unborn children.
Right to Life is committed to lobbying for this advocacy for those who
have no voice.
Joseph Moorman Concert
Right to Life’s first fundraising effort for the year was
an afternoon concert in the Christchurch Catholic Cathedral on Sunday 27
February. The concert included an inspirational organ performance by Grant
Bartley, and a moving recital of “The Ballad of the Unborn” by Nancye
Price. The highlight for the hundred or so people
present was undoubtedly hearing the main performer, Joseph Moorman:
internationally renowned tenor, light opera singer and recording artist
from
Pittsburgh
,
Pennsylvania
. Joseph sang well and
memorably, with a pleasant tone, and a deep understanding of the Catholic
and pro-life significance of his music. He was successfully able to convey
this understanding to his audience through both kind explanations between
songs and the very manner of his performance. His repertoire ranged from
the well-loved Christmas carols “Silent Night” and “O’ Holy
Night,” to the stirring marching-type hymn “Hail Mary Queen, Mother of
Mercy,” the very reverent “Panis Angelicus”, the sombre “Via
Dolorosa” and the consoling finale “You Will Never Walk Alone.” Many
members in the audience commented that they were very impressed with
Joseph’s pro-life message that he conveyed by word and song.
Right to Life would like to express sincere thanks to Joseph
for giving his time and talents so generously.
Human
Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004
(HART)
The
HART Bill was passed by Parliament in 2004. The Act violates the sanctity
of life ethic; it lays the foundation for a future where parents will be
able to choose the genetic inheritance of their babies through PGD and
design their babies. For the first time in
New Zealand
history a
committee will be empowered to draw up a list of types of human beings who
can be targeted for elimination and prevented from ever existing again in
our society.
The Act allows for the freezing and storage of human
embryos.
Þ The Act does not prohibit the creation of human embryos for research or
the creation of cloned embryos for stem cell research.
Þ The Act allows the creation of hybrid embryos for experimentation using
the gametes of animals. These embryos may not be implanted in a woman’s
womb and must be destroyed within 14 days.
Þ The Act requires that stored embryos are required to be destroyed or
used for experiment after storage for 10 years. There are more than 3000
embryos (tiny human beings) frozen in IVF clinics in
New Zealand
.
A
Ministerial Advisory Committee has been set up under the Act and will be
responsible for the detailed decisions on assisted reproductive
technology.
Right
to Life has been involved in extensive lobbying of MPs on this important
issue since the introduction of Dianne Yates’ HART Bill of 1995. Written
and oral submissions were also made to the Select Committee.
Right
to Life will continue to vigorously monitor the implementation of this Act
and the decisions of the Ministerial Advisory Committee.
The
voting in Parliament was as follows:-
Ayes:
102; Labour 51; National 22; New Zealand First 13; Green Party 9;
ACT New Zealand 2; United Future 2; Progressive 2; Independent 1 (Awatere Huata).
Noes:
18; National 5; ACT
New Zealand
6; United Future
6; Maori Party 1.
Moral Issues
a National
Concern
The
ethical and moral decline of
New Zealand
society is now a
major concern for citizens. A national survey conducted over 12 months
revealed that the ethical and moral decline was a major concern for 5% of
those polled during the year. In November 2004 that figure got as big as
11% as debate over the Civil Union Bill intensified. Concern was also
promoted by the Government forcing the Prostitution Reform Act through
Parliament and the Government opposing amendment to the Care of Children
Bill that allowed girls under the age of 16 to have an abortion without
the knowledge or consent of their parents or guardians. Right to Life
hopes that these concerns will be reflected in the ballot box at the next
general election with voters ensuring that they vote only for candidates
committed to upholding the common good. Those candidates not committed to
upholding the right to life of unborn children and who seek to restructure
the family disqualify themselves from sitting in our Parliament.
How Parties
Vote on Moral Issues
Murray
Smith MP United Future recently analysed the voting record of all members
of all political parties on the four key moral issues during this term of
Parliament—The Prostitution Reform Bill, Death with Dignity Bill
(euthanasia); Parental notification of teenage pregnancies and the Civil
Union Bill. The results show support of moral standards as :
United
Future 97% of
votes cast
National
82% of votes cast
NZ
First
61% of votes cast
ACT
51% of votes cast
Labour
22% of votes cast
Greens
3 % of votes cast
Many
abortions after contraception failure –ASC report
Almost
half the 18,511 abortions performed in
New Zealand
in 2003 were on
women who say they were using contraception when they became pregnant.
The
2004 annual report of the Abortion Supervisory Committee shows 5464
abortions were performed last year on women whose partners were using
condoms at the time of contraception. And, there were 2584 abortions
performed last year on women who conceived despite taking oral
contraceptives.
The
numbers are close to those from 2002. Almost 45 per cent of the
country’s abortions were in the
Auckland
region. The
report’s figures were collected from notification of abortion forms.
These must be completed and sent to the supervisory committee within a
month by the registered doctor who performed the abortion.
Family
Planning national medical advisor Dr Christine Roke says there is no
contraception method that is 100 per cent effective. Dr Roke says each
year three out of every 100 couples using the pill will end up with the
woman becoming pregnant.
Over
a decade, that means 30 couples out of the 100
using
the pill will end up with a pregnancy, she says. Factors influencing the
pill’s effectiveness include forgetting to take it, taking medication,
or having diarrhoea or vomiting.
Dr
Roke says the contraception method used by women is one of the topics
covered in discussions with certifying consultants. “In
Auckland
, women having
abortions are very well counselled about whether they need to change their
method or improve the way the method is used,” she says.
Statistics
New Zealand senior demographer Bill Boddington says the Supervisory
Committee report cautions about limitations in the method of obtaining the
data.
Women
may have thought they were being asked what contraception they used
generally, rather than what method they were using at the time of
conception, he says.
The
Committee is reviewing the abortion registration documentation.
Lesley
Martin – Attempted Murder
The
voluntary euthanasia campaigner Lesley Martin had her appeal to the Court
of Appeal rejected in February. The court ruled that there had been no
miscarriage of justice when she had been convicted by the High Court in
Wanganui last April of the attempted murder of her mother.
Lesley
Martin had been released in December from Wellington Arohata Women’s
Prison after serving 7 ½ months of her 15 month sentence.
The
court also ruled against Martin’s claim that her 15 month sentence
was manifestly excessive. It said the court had a duty under the Bill of
Rights Act to respect human life. It also said “…It cannot be said
that in vindicating the sanctity of human life and the authority of our
criminal law … the sentence was manifestly excessive or wrong in
principle.” Lesley Martin had 28 days in which to lodge an appeal to the
Supreme Court.
This tragic case has
been given international media attention. On completion of the appeal
process Right to Life will again lay a complaint with the Nursing Council
of New Zealand requesting that Lesley Martin be struck off the roll of
registered nurses for attempting to kill her mother who was her patient in
violation of the ethics of the nursing profession.
Prostitution
Referendum
The
referendum seeking the repeal of the Prostitution Reform Act 2004
organised by United Future MPs Gordon Copeland and Larry Baldock has
failed to obtain the required number of signatures of electors. A total of
271,000 signatures was required to have the citizens’ initiated
referendum placed on the ballot at the next general election.
Unfortunately in spite of an extension of time to gain the required
signatures it failed by 70,000.
Gordon
Copeland MP, a sponsor of the referendum, expressed disappointment and
said that this “represented unfinished business and that we should
remember at the next election who voted in Parliament for this Bill.”
Right to Life is grateful to its members and supporters who signed the
referendum and promoted it. Appreciation is also expressed to the many
churches who promoted this referendum.
Right to Life is committed to the repeal of this
damaging legislation.
The
sponsors of the referendum have now presented the failed referendum to
Parliament as a petition. It is expected that this petition will be
referred by Parliament to the Justice and Electoral select committee for
their consideration. The committee will after completing its consideration
report back to Parliament with a recommendation to take action or to take
no action.
World
News
Bishops'
Spokeswoman Reacts to New Study on Morning After Pill Showing No 'Benefit'
From Over-the-Counter Access
WASHINGTON
DC
, Jan. 6
/PRNewswire/ -- While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) weighs a
second request by Barr Laboratories to sell its morning-after pill
"Plan B" over-the-counter without a prescription, a new study in
the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that such a change
would have no effect on pregnancy rates. The study, co-authored by a
Planned Parenthood doctor, analysed a sample of over 2000 girls and young
women, ages 15 to 24 years. One group was given packs of morning after
pills and another obtained them from a pharmacy, but the results were the
same: 8% of the participants became pregnant and 12% acquired sexually
transmitted diseases.
"This study blows the lid off the main
argument for putting morning after pills on the drugstore shelf,"
said Cathy Cleaver Ruse, Esq., Director of Planning and Information for
the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life
Activities. "Proponents have repeatedly claimed that making the drug
available without a prescription would reduce abortion numbers by as many
as half; now their own study debunks that claim."
Plan B is essentially an "overdose" of prescription
birth-control pills. It is marketed and advertised as a
"contraceptive" but its own proponents admit that it works
before and after conception. Studies in
New Zealand
and the
UK
show the drug is
associated with an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy, a potentially
fatal complication.
"Our message to the FDA remains the same: putting Plan B on
the drugstore shelf is bad policy and bad medicine," said
Ruse
.
Food
and Hydration
In
the
United Kingdom
a High Court
decision in July 2004 overturned doctors’ guidelines that could have
allowed for the withdrawal of food and hydration from a terminally ill
patient. Lesley Burke, 44, a patient with a terminally ill degenerative
brain condition was ecstatic that the High Court declared that key
sections of the guidelines on withdrawal of life – prolonging treatment
by the General Medical Council were unlawful.
Mr Justice Munby ruled that a patient who was competent or who had
left instructions could insist that doctors continue to provide artificial
nutrition and hydration. If food and water were withdrawn he would have
died from dehydration after two or three weeks. This is a very distressing
and painful death.
The United Nations this year are drafting an internationally
binding convention on the rights of people with disabilities. Among the
most controversial passages is an article that will make it illegal to
provide life saving nutrition and hydration without the free consent of
the patient or the patient’s legal representative. This provision is
being strongly opposed by the international pro-life movement as it is
seen as a further attack on the right to life.
***************************
Washington
(CNS)
The
United States
Supreme Court has
refused to reconsider its 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that legalised abortion
and struck down State laws protecting unborn children.
Without comment it rejected an appeal by Norma M. Corvey, the Jane
Roe in the original case and Sandra Cano, the “Mary Doe” of the
companion Doe v Botlon ruling.
***************************
Pre
Implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) -
U.K.
The
United Kingdom
’s Human
Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has recently proposed to
allow parents to start choosing the genetic characteristics of their
children conceived through IVF. The process would require that a
fertilised egg be chosen as having the desired genetic characteristics.
The other fertilised eggs deemed unsuitable would be destroyed or used for
experimentation.
This is designer babies and is a violation of
the sanctity of life ethic.
The National Ethics Committee on Assisted Human Reproduction
(NECAHR) is currently preparing guidelines for the Minister of Health, Hon
Annette King, on the use of PGD in
New Zealand
. In November Right
to Life made an oral and written submission to NECAHR in
Christchurch
. We opposed the
use of PGD to diagnose genetic abnormalities e.g. Downs Syndrome, Cystic
Fibrosis, Muscular Dystrophy etc. This is a search-and-destroy mission
emanating from a humanistic quality-of-life ethic that deems that only the
healthy have a right to life.
Right to Life has written to the Minister of Health requesting that
she withdraw her permission for the use of PGD in
New Zealand
. The Minister
replied that parents had a right to choose.
Bride
Famine Arrives in
India
Indian
social scientists are predicting a rise in sexual violence and
wife-sharing because 40 million aborted girls are missing from the
population. It is estimated that 5 million girls are aborted each year.
In
Haryana
State
a whole generation of young men is failing
to find wives because a quarter of the female population has simply
disappeared, says the London Times
Euthanasia
AMSTERDAM
– Raising
concern about possible unregulated euthanasia cases, researchers have
claimed that Dutch doctors administer “terminal sedation” in four to
ten percent of patient deaths.
Researchers from the Erasmus Medical Centre and the Free University
Medical Centre in
Amsterdam
said some of these
deaths verge on euthanasia and should possibly come into considerations
for assessment as such.
Euthanasia has been legal in the Netherlands since April 2002,
allowing assisted suicides if the patient officially requests to die, is
suffering from extreme pain or a terminal illness and a second medical
opinion has been sought. The
Netherlands
was the first
nation to legalise euthanasia.
In administering terminal sedation, patients who are dying are
given sedation that keeps them in a coma until death. They also go without
fluid and food, newspaper De Volkskrant reported.
In contrast to euthanasia, terminal sedation is not aimed at ending
a patient’s life, but the administering of drugs is often part of
palliative care to combat pain, fear and distress.
But terminal sedation can result in death of patients and its
application has increased in recent years. It is sometimes an alternative
to euthanasia, the newspaper reported.
According to the
Rotterdam
researchers, 43.8
percent of patient deaths in the
Netherlands
are the result of
a “medical decision”. This includes the active ending of a patient’s
life or deciding to no longer treat a patient. Ten percent of these
decisions can be traced back to terminal sedation.
The researchers – who published their work in the academic
periodical Annals of Internal Medicine recently – based their findings
on the third large study into medical decisions around the ending of life.
The study was published last year and asked 410 Dutch doctors whether they
used terminal sedation and why.
The answers indicated that 52 percent had applied on occasion
terminal sedation, and in a large majority of these cases the sedation was
administered partly to hasten a patient’s death.
Terminal sedation does not need to be reported to authorities, but
euthanasia does. A special commission then assesses the euthanasia case to
determine if regulations were breached.
The Dutch public prosecution chief Joan de Wijkerslooth concluded
in June that a grey area had developed between euthanasia and terminal
sedation and urged for the implementation of better regulations.
Euthanasia
in Nazi
Germany
After
three years' intensive research on newly discovered secret archives of the
Nazi regime more information is now known about the euthanasia campaign of
Nazi Germany.
It was Hitler who personally ordered the murder of Gerhard
Krestschmar an infant born blind in 1939.
At Hitler's direction
the Interior Ministry in 1939 issued a decree ordering the systematic
annihilation of mentally and physically disabled German children. This was
a eugenics programme that included nearly 8000 children considered
“unworthy of living”.
United
Nations — Human Cloning
The
United Nations General Assembly on the 8th March 05 adopted a
Declaration calling on all nations to enact legislation to “prohibit all
forms of human cloning.” The vote was 84 – 34. The N Z delegate voted
against the Declaration. The reason given being that it banned so called
“therapeutic cloning” (creating human clones to experiment upon and
kill).
Adult stem cells, the use of which is ethical, are already doing
what cloning only promises by providing near-miraculous treatments for
patients with Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, cancer and
blindness.
The Declaration sets an international standard that humans should
not be created through cloning for any purpose placing human life as a
priority over scientific experimentation. Right to Life has written to the
Hon Phil Goff to express our society’s concern at the governments vote
and its failure to uphold the right to life of human embryos.
Americans
Reject Abortion
A
Zagby International poll conducted in the
USA
in April revealed
an increasing opposition to abortion. Only 13% of Americans believe
abortion should be completely unrestricted.
By contrast, 56% believe abortion should be legal or allowed only
when the life of the mother is endangered or where the pregnancy resulted
from rape or incest. This view is held by an even higher proportion (60%)
of 18 to 29 year olds. Some 49% of the sample described themselves as
“pro-life” compared to 45% who said they were “pro-abortion”.
Zenit, April 2004
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