Jacinda’s legacy – Increasing number of abortions

Four years ago, our politicians decriminalised abortion and introduced one of the most liberal and extreme laws in the world, effectively legalising abortion to 40 weeks with token safeguards.

And remember – the law was rammed through by our politicians in March 2020 while we as a nation were all preparing to go into lockdown for COVID in order to protect the most vulnerable amongst us. But our then-PM who had recently had her first child prioritised this liberalisation of abortion. It really seems a sick joke, doesn’t it.

Last week we obtained a copy of the latest abortion stats from prolife group Right To Life. The interesting thing is that you probably haven’t heard about this – unless you received our email newsletter on Saturday.

The media suddenly don’t want to talk about abortion – when they normally want to promote it and push it and punish anyone who doesn’t agree with it. Nope – silence.

The latest abortion statistics make grim and upsetting reading, with a 25% increase in abortions since the decriminalisation of abortion in March 2020 – four years ago.

According to an Official Information Act request received by Right to Life, the provisional figures which will be very close to the final confirmed figures released in November show a 14% increase in abortions from 14,164 abortion procedures in 2022 to 16,214 last year (2023). It is the highest number of abortions since 2011. You can see on the graph there that abortions have been falling and remaining at a low level until 2021 when they started trending upwards.

This latest figure represents an average of almost 45 child per day killed in the womb in New Zealand. 45 per day.

If you look at the trend from when the law was liberalised and decriminalised under Jacinda Ardern’s watch but with support from the majority of politicians in the house at that time, there has been a 25% increase in abortions since the end of 2019 when the number was just 12,948.

25%. Maybe that’s why the media haven’t been keen to tell you about this. They know that this is a death cult dressed up in “reproductive freedom”.

However, this increase is the sad reality which we predicted would happen when the law was changed.

Medical abortions are also on the increase – well above surgical procedures, and that’s because pro abortionists think that early abortions are somehow better. That’s like saying it’s ok to kill a young child but not an older child. It just doesn’t make sense. It’s still a life. It still harms the pregnant woman both physically and emotionally.

There’s a big push for medical abortions with phone consultations and telemedicine – abortions done at home. DIY abortions.

IMAGE – abortions 2023 EMA

The blue line is early medical abortions, and the orange line is surgical abortions. Now if you think that early medical abortions sounds better, you need to watch Dr Norman MacLean on our youtube channel explain exactly what they are and why early medical abortions are still problematic for the unborn child and for the woman. I’ll put the link in the explainer.

IMAGE – 2023 abortion 1

According to the Abortion Services Aotearoa NZ report last year and covering abortions up to the end of 2022, 221 women suffered complications including haemorrhaging, retained products, infections and even failed abortions (up from 161 the previous year – an almost 40% increase) and this risk was greater with medical abortions. 60% of complications were with medical abortions. For 57 medical abortions they couldn’t even find the woman to follow up. Is that safe high quality health outcome? No I don’t think so either. But the report says – oh it’s only a small proportion. Just 60 women. Who cares.

NZ doctor Dr Norman MacLean did a video for us explaining the reality of 1^st trimester abortions.

1.10 – 4.09 VIDEO – the reality of 1^st trimester medical abortion

But the Ministry of Health and abortion supporters think it’s just like UberEats where you get the medication and do it at home. No supervision. No support. Just like ordering pizza.

IMAGE – 2023 abortion 9

The report last year also had a whole section on “Responsiveness to Maori” as part of its commitment to the principals of equity, and with the intention of achieving equitable abortion health outcomes. A “vision” for abortion services that focuses on services meeting the “needs” of rangatahi, Māori – apparently this is equity. More abortion services for Maori. Easier abortions. What about the needs of the unborn rangatahi – the unborn Maori child.

There was even a focus on late term abortions – especially for Maori – in line with the Treaty of Waitangi.

IMAGE – abortion MofH guidelines 2021

The Ministry of Health published the New Zealand Aotearoa Abortion Clinical Guideline in 2021 because the politicians said that killing an unborn child shouldn’t be a crime – it was about health. Apparently. Not for the child though. And so the Ministry of Health published guidelines. And they had this section – but it was sooooo important to

IMAGE – maori and abortion late term

Tino rangatiratanga – Health practitioners support the right of Māori to undergo an abortion post 20 weeks’ gestation, conceptualising the person’s decision to have an abortion as a continuation of a much older, Māori collective-endorsed practice of determining one’s own health and wellbeing and that of the whānau.

Partnership – Health practitioners work in partnership with Māori who are having an abortion post 20 weeks’ gestation to make decisions that will enhance their rangatiratanga or self-determination over the process while exercising mana motuhake or authority over their bodies and reproductive health.

Active protection – Health practitioners ensure Māori have evidence-based information about the post 20 weeks’ abortion process so that they can make decisions and preparations that will uphold their tikanga or cultural practice (eg, karakia, rongoā, support person, container for and a location to place fetal tissue, or fetus and placenta).

This is late term abortions

IMAGE – 2023 abortion 10

But here’s an interesting observation. The higher the deprivation – in other words, the poorer the parents – the more likely for an abortion. Which is one of the sad realities of abortion. Often the decision is made based on economics. We can’t afford a child. But THAT is not a solution. We need to support parents so that abortion is not an option. We need policies that give life! But our politicians have been focused on giving death.

As we said at the time of the debate, to remove legislation about abortion from the criminal code and insert it to the health code is to equate a procedure to remove an unborn baby with a procedure to remove an appendix, kidney stones, gall bladder or tonsils – simply ’tissue’ removed as part of a ‘health procedure’. This is the narrative they want.

Our abortion law denies the humanity of the baby and again, creates inconsistency with other legislation and public health messaging for pregnant women which clearly recognises the rights of the unborn child.

VIDEO – 2022 abortion 10-14 weeks Babycenter / 2022 abortion 24 weeks Kings College London

Anybody who has viewed the ultrasound of an unborn child will know that this policy is a gross abuse of human rights. The humanity of a child is NOT based on whether it’s wanted or not wanted. It never should be based on that. It worked in the 70s but it’s flat earth science now. We’ve seen the ultrasounds. We’ve seen the foetal development. To support abortion, you have to park your conscience and science in a deep dark vault.

Abortion denies the humanity of the unborn child.

We will continue to fight for the rights of the unborn child and the welfare of the pregnant mum.

Fight for what’s right.