Abortion Debate – A truly alive Life Debate
The abortion debate, as with all life and death issues, is
not going to disappear any time soon. I am on the pro-life side and have always
been so. Most families have an abortion story to relate and the story from my
wife and I will be found further on.
There are as many starting points in this debate as there
are days in the year. Firstly I shall deal with my voting position as it
relates to the Labour party and to the one Labour politician who laid both the
groundwork for New Zealand’s free and on demand abortion, and the groundwork
for my turning away from Labour.
The politician in question is Andrew Little. His speech in
introducing his abortion legislation was the turning point, or turning off
point for me. Quoting from his speech introducing the bill:
Much of the contribution to the
public debate about abortion will come from people who, because of their faith
or other deeply held views, are opposed to abortion at all. Some regard it as a
denial of life or a breach of human rights, and we will hear extravagant
language in the public debate about this referring to "killing" and
"murder". I reject those notions. (Ref: Hansard record 8th
August 2019).
The words “extravagant language” did the damage. Mr.Little
via his speech put his stake in the ground and told us his legislation was a
done deal. Later in 2020 there were thousands of submissions on the Abortion
bill. I got to make my own submission opposing the bill, and to read a
considerable number of other like-minded submitters. I could not find any
“extravagant language”. Only well written, well reasoned sincere arguments all
of which were absolutely ignored.
Would Mr.Little today write the USA Supreme Court judgement
off as extravagant language? I will quote from that judgement further on. The
USA Supreme Court reversed a previous judgement to now say that abortion is
after all not a constitutional right and that individual states should decide
the right and wrongs independently. Here in New Zealand abortion is now a
legislated right. Many Labour politicians have come out so strongly against the
USA ruling as they feel New Zealand’s pro-life movement could otherwise be inspired
and gain much more support.
At least in the USA some states will have a choice in how
the issue is dealt with. Not so now in New Zealand. Today’s news (Wed 29th
June) tells us that National, courtesy of Christopher Luxon, does not want to
take part in the abortion culture wars. Also that National would not under any
circumstances change New Zealand’s abortion settings, not even it seems to
encourage a reduction in the number of abortions. Mr.Luxon’s words were that abortion
laws in New Zealand had been democratically settled after much debate and his
party had no intention of revisiting the issue.
Question in passing: If the Three Waters system is actually
legislated for, having been “democratically settled” (maybe), would National
repeal it all as promised?
As to the matter of culture wars all I can say is culture
wars are non-stop affairs worldwide. Some might name it as the Public Discourse.
The Public Discourse is a very messy beast. Has Mr.Luxon not noticed that New
Zealand’s culture war is bubbling away on so many fronts? Think Three Waters,
Maori language, Maori knowledge, History, Aotearoa, Crime, Gangs, Gender
Diversity, Immigration, Pronouns, Media and on and on. Mr.Luxon is said to be
taking Maori language lessons. To shore up his Maori voting support?
Having said all of that about Mr.Luxon it might seem to limit
my voting choices. A voter can go only so far with a party riddled with
conflicting world views.
Abortion story:
Many years ago my wife and I were offered an
abortion in the old Wellington Hospital Accident and Emergency. Early 1970s.
Our fourth child. It would have been done there and then on the trolley/bed in
A&E. No scans in those days. Being pro-life we declined as we were hopeful though
not fully confident that she could overcome the crisis. There had been a
similar crisis with our second child.
This was of course before the 1977 abortion
legislation. The A&E procedure in most terms would not have been far
removed from a back street abortion. What surprised us most was the
casual/brutal attitude of the doctor involved, and left us with the thought he
had been down that road on previous occasions. True story.
Quoting the USA Supreme Court judgement. No
apologies for this quote.
The
legislature then found that at 5 or 6 weeks’
gestational age an “unborn human being’s heart begins beating”; at 8 weeks the
“unborn human being begins to move about in the womb”; at 9 weeks “all basic
physiological functions are present”; at 10 weeks “vital organs begin to
function,” and “[h]air, fingernails, and toenails ... begin to form”; at 11
weeks “an unborn human being’s diaphragm is developing,” and he or she may
“move about freely in the womb”; and at 12 weeks the “unborn human being” has
“taken on ‘the human form’ in all relevant respects.” §2(b)(i) (quoting
Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124, 160 (2007)).
It found
that most abortions after 15 weeks employ “dilation and evacuation procedures
which involve the use of surgical instruments to crush and tear the unborn
child,” and it concluded that the “intentional commitment of such acts for
nontherapeutic or elective reasons is a barbaric practice, dangerous for the
maternal patient, and demeaning to the medical profession.” §2(b)@)(8).
The
legislature:
The court was referring to Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act.
My reason for quoting this portion of the judgement
is to repeat and emphasise the fundamental pro-life position that life is. Repeat life is.
Where does the New Zealand abortion issue go to from here?
Mr.Little and Mr.Luxon can be seen as a type of tag team seeking to throttle
all debate. The pro-life movement will find a way to talk over the heads of the
politicians and beyond the media.
My appeal would be to all of the good feminists of New
Zealand. There are a great many of them - to ask them to talk quietly to their
friends, families, daughters especially. Many in fact are working already in
organisations such as Pregnancy Help. Their voices have not been fully heard
because of the cancel culture or what is occasionally known as the great Kiwi
clobbering machine.
I am planning a follow-up piece to comment on New Zealand’s
political and news media treatment of the abortion issue, plus the matter of
New Zealand’s declining birth rate.
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