Drop In Abortion Rate As Fetal Knowledge Increases

Media Release 17 June 2015
Family First NZ is welcoming the drop in abortions to the lowest number since 1994, and says that the rate will continue to drop as knowledge of the prenatal development of the unborn child increases, and as an increasingly pro-life younger generation become parents themselves.

“The ‘bunch of cells’ argument which has driven the right-to-abortion argument is now just ‘flat earth science’. As the average person has learnt more about the biology of prenatal development, they have become more ‘pro-life’. And more and more mothers are choosing to have their baby,” says Marina Young, spokesperson for Family First NZ and founder of the Buttons Project.

“3-D ultrasounds and smartphone apps allowing parents to listen to the heartbeat of their unborn child and keep track of their baby’s progress in the womb, including heartbeats per minute, the number of times the baby kicks and the weight of the growing fetus, have contributed to an increasing awareness of the life of the child in the womb.”

“We are, however, still concerned that almost 1800 abortions were performed on teenagers in the last year – including almost 60 on 11-14 year olds – and a third of abortions were not a woman’s first abortion.”

“Some political parties and lobby groups are attempting to introduce extreme abortion laws in NZ, which will potentially pave the way for late term abortions, ‘gendercide’, abortion up-to-birth on the basis of ‘severe fetal abnormality’, and possibly even partial-birth abortions. This will be harmful to the health of women and conveniently ignores the rights of the unborn child,” says Mrs Young.

“If these groups are really concerned about women, and if they’re really concerned about children as they pretend to be, they should be calling for a law which protects informed consent, that requires honest information about abortion and abortion-related risks, and that provides women with independent pregnancy counselling so that women can make truly informed decisions from a place of certainty and knowledge.”

“The latest drop in abortion rates is a win-win for women and children, and is welcome news.”
ENDS