A sad day for New Zealand: MPs vote to introduce barbaric abortion up to birth regime
Date: 18th March 2020
Today, members of Parliament in New Zealand voted to remove all legal protection and recognition of the unborn child. Under the leadership of prime minister Jacinda Ardern (herself a recent mother), MPs also refused to grant pain relief to babies being killed "late term." Any babies born alive by accident during procedures can be left lying, to die in agony, with no intervention.
When the government consulted on the bill, nearly 92% of 25,000 responses were against. Yet this was ignored. The deputy prime minister Winston Peters pledged before he was elected that he would not support such a bill. Yet he introduced it and voted for it, right up until the final vote."
The passing of the bill comes after decades of campaigning by hardline abortion advocates.
Abortion will now be decriminalised, taken out of the context of criminal law, meaning no time restrictions will apply. The issue was scheduled to be put to a public referendum, but the government decided against that option late on Wednesday. Abortion will be legal on demand for any and no reason up to 20 weeks of pregnancy (five months), and after that stage, will be available without time limit on request.
The final vote on the bill passed 68 to 51, it will now head to the Governor-General for the royal assent before becoming law.
In late February, thousands of pro-lifers gathered at Auckland's Aotea square on Saturday afternoon for the New Zealand March for Life.
With the vote to introduce a cruel and radical abortion regime to the country looming, the pro-life activists gathered to make a public stand for the "unborn and their often vulnerable mothers".
"We intend to show Parliament that unborn life is not without advocates in New Zealand, and that there are many in New Zealand willing to be a voice for the voiceless," said Emma Rankin, March for Life Auckland spokesperson.
According to organisers, National Party MPs Agnes Loheni, Alfred Ngaro and Simon O'Connor addressed the crowd.
As the news broke, pro-life organisation 'Voice for Life' said in a statement,
"Tonight our hearts ache for all of the unborn children and the vulnerable mothers who will become the victims of the ideological extremism that has overtaken our Parliament.
In the midst of a global pandemic the NZ Parliament has ushered in a Bill that will liberalise abortion up to birth, allow sex selective abortions, remove freedom of conscience rights from medical professionals, and which offers no protections for infants who are born alive after botched abortions.
This moment will not be celebrated by future generations of Kiwis. Instead it will come to be looked upon with sadness and shame, and they will ask themselves 'how could they vote for such an inhumane law?"
The group went on to thank the 51 MPs "who stood against the tide of ideological extremism and voted against this Bill, we thank you for your compassion and courage." They also thanked pro-lifers in New Zealand who visited, rang or emailed their MPs, as well as those who spoke up against the law, prayer or protested in the last few weeks.
The group concluded, "Tonight is not the end - not by a long shot! - this is actually the beginning of a new and reinvigorated pro-life movement! A movement that will work with even greater dedication to build a better future for the unborn and their often vulnerable mothers - a NZ where abortion is unthinkable and unnecessary."