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Decision raises fears over abortion

June 11, 2008
John Hartevelt, Associated Press

A landmark High Court ruling has raised fears New Zealand could return to the days of the 1940s, when many women died from illegal abortions.

Justice Miller of the New Zealand High Court this week delivered a judgment criticizing the way the country’s abortion laws are applied. The ruling looks set to tighten access to abortions.

In the judgment, the judge expressed “powerful misgivings” about the lawfulness of many abortions.

Data from the Abortion Supervisory Committee tended “to confirm (the) view that New Zealand essentially has abortion on request”, he said.

The judgment was on a case brought by the Right to Life group, which charged that the committee had failed on five counts to carry out its statutory duties.

The committee oversees abortion in New Zealand. In its 30 years, it had never struck off a licensed practitioner, the judgment said.

“In one case, where a consultant expressed views apparently consistent with abortion on request, the committee verified that she remained eligible.”

More than 98 per cent of abortions were authorised on the grounds a woman’s mental health was at risk. That seemed “remarkably high”, the judge said.

The committee had stated the law was being used more liberally than Parliament intended, he said.

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