Status of the Unborn Child Bill
Encyclopedia
The Status of the Unborn Child Bill (1983) was a New Zealand pro-life private members bill that was introduced into the New Zealand Parliament in 1983 by pro-life
National MP Douglas Kidd, after Wall v Livingston [1982] had clarified that embryos and fetuses had no legal status in New Zealand, and thus, pro-life third parties could not interfere with abortion in New Zealand
if performed under the terms of the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977 (as amended 1978). Due to the efforts of pro-choice National MP and feminist Marilyn Waring
, the bill was defeated.
In the late 1990s, the Status of the Unborn Child Bill was to return again, when Christchurch SPUC (now Right to Life New Zealand
) disagreed with its parent organisation over the sidelining of this former legislative strategy, and resurrected it, ultimately splitting the New Zealand pro-life movement in 1999. Since then, RTLNZ has operated its own website and newsletter, Footprints.
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
National MP Douglas Kidd, after Wall v Livingston [1982] had clarified that embryos and fetuses had no legal status in New Zealand, and thus, pro-life third parties could not interfere with abortion in New Zealand
Abortion in New Zealand
Abortion in New Zealand is currently legal in cases where the pregnant woman faces a danger to her life, physical or mental health, or if there is a risk of the fetus being handicapped, in the event of the continuation of her pregnancy...
if performed under the terms of the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977 (as amended 1978). Due to the efforts of pro-choice National MP and feminist Marilyn Waring
Marilyn Waring
Marilyn Waring, CNZM, D.Phil., D.Litt. is a New Zealand feminist, a politician, an activist for female human rights and environmental issues, an author and an academic, known for her contributions to feminist economics....
, the bill was defeated.
In the late 1990s, the Status of the Unborn Child Bill was to return again, when Christchurch SPUC (now Right to Life New Zealand
Right to Life New Zealand
Right to Life New Zealand is a Christchurch-based pro-life group. It was expelled from the New Zealand Society for Protection of the Unborn Child in December 1999....
) disagreed with its parent organisation over the sidelining of this former legislative strategy, and resurrected it, ultimately splitting the New Zealand pro-life movement in 1999. Since then, RTLNZ has operated its own website and newsletter, Footprints.
Further reading
- Marilyn Pryor (1985) The Right to Live: The Abortion Battle of New Zealand Auckland: Haelan Books ISBN 0-908630-23-9