New Zealand plans to decriminalise abortion and treat it is as a health issue, the government said on Monday.
This is the first major reform to abortion laws in more than four decades that some activists said fell short of expectations.
The legislation aims to modernise abortion laws in place since 1977 and proposes that a woman should have access to abortion until 20 weeks of pregnancy.
After 20 weeks, a pregnant woman would require one heath practitioner to reasonably believe the abortion is appropriate with regard to the woman’s physical and mental health, and well-being, the government said in a statement.
“Abortion is the only medical procedure that is still a crime in New Zealand. It’s time for this to change,” Justice Minister Andrew Little said in a statement.
“Safe abortion should be treated and regulated as a health issue; a woman has the right to choose what happens to her body,” he added.
Currently abortion in New Zealand is an offence under the Crimes Act, and a woman can only legally get an abortion if two doctors certify that continuing the pregnancy would result in danger to her mental or physical health.
The grounds on which abortion can be approved by the doctors are narrow and do not include reasons such as rape or the inability to support a child, activists have said.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promised to change the laws after winning a 2017 election, but the plans were delayed as lawmakers argued over the bill.
The abortion rights group ALRANZ said the proposed bill was a “mixed bag”. “It’s not as good as it could have been, but it’s so much better than the status quo. We have to give the government props for that,” said ALRANZ national president Terry Bellamak, who questioned the 20-week limit.
“There are scans that happen around 20 weeks and this gives people little time to consider those results,” he said.
The legislation would allow for the creation of safe areas around specific abortion facilities to protect women from intimidation or harassment from anti-abortion activists.
Medical practitioners who object to providing abortion services on the grounds of conscience must inform the pregnant woman so that she can obtain services elsewhere, the bill said.
New Zealand is the latest country to liberalise abortion laws. South Korea’s high court overturned a ban on abortion in April, while Ireland legalized abortion in a referendum last year.
However, in the United States some conservative-leaning states have taken action to curb abortion rights.
It’s really a cool and helpful piece of information. I’m happy that you just shared this
helpful information with us. Please keep us informed like this.
Thank you for sharing.
Generally I do not learn post on blogs, but I would like to
say that this write-up very compelled me to try and do it! Your writing taste
has been amazed me. Thank you, very nice post.
Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you
know a few of the images aren’t loading properly. I’m not sure why but
I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different internet
browsers and both show the same outcome.
I have read a few just right stuff here. Definitely price bookmarking for revisiting.
I surprise how so much attempt you set to create one of these great informative website.
Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after browsing
through a few of the posts I realized it’s new
to me. Anyhow, I’m certainly pleased I found it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking
back regularly!
Excellent way of telling, and good post to get data on the topic of my presentation subject, which i am going to present in institution of higher education.
I simply want to say I’m very new to weblog and actually savored you’re blog site. Very likely I’m going to bookmark your website . You really come with terrific articles. Thanks a bunch for sharing with us your web-site.
Hi there great website! Does running a blog similar to this take a massive
amount work? I’ve no expertise in coding but I had been hoping
to start my own blog soon. Anyhow, should you have any
recommendations or tips for new blog owners please share. I
understand this is off topic but I just wanted to
ask. Kudos!
Great article.
It’s awesome to pay a quick visit this web site and reading the views of
all friends about this post, while I am also keen of getting familiarity.
Yes! Finally something about web hosting.
Hello my friend! I wish to say that this article is awesome, nice written and
come with approximately all vital infos. I would like to
look extra posts like this .
high line pointe review
high line pointe review
south denver apartments
high line pointe review
south denver apartments
Hello to every one, it’s actually a good for me to visit this web site, it includes useful Information.
Asking questions are actually pleasant thing if you are not
understanding anything fully, but this piece of writing provides
good understanding yet.
I believe what you wrote was very logical.
But, consider this, suppose you added a little information? I mean, I don’t want to tell you how
to run your blog, but suppose you added a post title that makes people desire more?
I mean New Zealand To Decriminalise Abortion Laws. – thenewnarrativeonline is kinda boring.
You ought to peek at Yahoo’s home page and note how they create article headlines
to grab people interested. You might add a video or a related picture or two to get
people interested about everything’ve written. Just my
opinion, it would make your posts a little livelier.
Hi there it’s me, I am also visiting this web site
on a regular basis, this web site is in fact fastidious and the users are in fact sharing pleasant thoughts.
This website was… how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally I have
found something that helped me. Thank you!
Hmm is anyone else experiencing problems with the images on this blog loading?
I’m trying to figure out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog.
Any feed-back would be greatly appreciated.
I have been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or weblog posts on this
sort of house . Exploring in Yahoo I ultimately stumbled
upon this website. Reading this information So i’m happy to show that I’ve a very
excellent uncanny feeling I discovered exactly what I needed.
I such a lot undoubtedly will make sure to don?t fail to remember this
site and give it a look on a constant basis. games ps4 allenferguson games ps4
Quality articles is the main to be a focus for the viewers to
go to see the site, that’s what this web site is providing.
Hi there! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading this post reminds me of my good old room mate!
He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this write-up to him.
Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank
you for sharing!
Undeniably imagine that which you stated.
Your favorite justification appeared to be at the web the simplest
thing to understand of. I say to you, I certainly get irked
even as people think about concerns that they just do not realize
about. You managed to hit the nail upon the highest
and also outlined out the entire thing with no need side-effects , other people could take a signal.
Will probably be back to get more. Thank you asmr 0mniartist
Wow, marvelous blog layout! How long have you been blogging for?
you made blogging look easy. The overall look of your website is great,
let alone the content!
It is not my first time to go to see this site, i am visiting this web site
dailly and obtain nice data from here all the time.
You have made some decent points there. I checked on the internet for more info about the issue and found most people
will go along with your views on this site.
scoliosis
It is not my first time to pay a quick visit this site, i am browsing
this web site dailly and obtain nice facts from here daily.
scoliosis
Hi there it’s me, I am also visiting this web site regularly, this website is really good and the viewers are actually sharing pleasant thoughts.
Very soon this website will be famous amid all blog viewers, due
to it’s fastidious articles or reviews
Hey! I know this is kinda off topic however , I’d figured I’d ask.
Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest writing a blog article
or vice-versa? My website addresses a lot of the same
topics as yours and I think we could greatly benefit from each
other. If you’re interested feel free to shoot
me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you!
Excellent blog by the way!
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you
knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my
newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this.
Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward
to your new updates.
Embark on a magical journey in our fantasy RPG Lucky cola
Claim your throne in the virtual world – conquer every level Lodibet