Right to Life New Zealand is a

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

-based anti-abortion group. It broke away from the New Zealand Society for Protection of the Unborn Child (now

Voice for Life Voice for Life, formerly known as the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child (SPUC), is a New Zealand anti-abortion advocacy group. Besides opposing abortion, Voice for Life has also lobbied against infanticide, embryonic stem cell r ...

) in 2000 following disagreements between the Christchurch branch spokesperson Ken Orr and the national leadership over lobbying tactics. Besides opposing

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

, Right to Life NZ opposes

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduc ...

, and specific policies around

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

issues.

History

Origins

Right to Life originated as the Christchurch branch of the New Zealand Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child (SPUC), now known as

. In 2000, the Christchurch branch of SPUC was expelled from the national organisation due to disagreements between the branch's spokesperson Ken Orr and the national organisation over lobbying tactics. While Ken Orr wanted to push for anti-abortion legislation, the national leadership wanted to wait for a strongly anti-abortion government. In September 2000, the Christchurch branch of SPUC formerly revamped itself as Right to Life New Zealand.

Nikki's Case, 2002

In 2002, Right to Life won a court case known as "Nikki's Case" in which a fetus was made a ward of the court after the mother decided to allow the birth to be filmed for a

pornographic Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

movie. According to journalist Allison McCulloch, this court challenge was part of Right to Life's campaign to enshrine the right to life from conception in New Zealand law.

Legal proceedings against the Abortion Supervisory Committee, 2008–2011

Between 2005 and 2012, Right to Life New Zealand's leader Ken Orr pursued a court case against the Abortion Supervisory Committee, New Zealand's abortion regulator since 2005, arguing that the Committee had failed in its statutory responsibility to monitor the legality of individual certifying consultant responsibilities under the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977, protect

fetus A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal deve ...

es, and stop elective abortions. In 2008, Right to Life's case was upheld in part by Miller J, however he refused to issue a declaration that the Committee had failed in its duty. On appeal, the Court of Appeal found against Right to Life on 1 June 2011. It dismissed their case against the Committee and upheld ''Wall v Livingston'', an earlier Court of Appeal case that found that there was no statutory definition of embryo or foetus under New Zealand law in the context of abortion. The Court of Appeal also ruled that there was no foetal right to life. Right to Life New Zealand Inc sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of New Zealand. In a decision on 26 August 2011 the Supreme Court granted Right to Life New Zealand Inc leave to appeal in relation to certain issues (including regarding the powers of the Abortion Supervisory Committee), but declined leave to appeal regarding the issues of the rights of the unborn child and independent counselling for women. The appeal was heard in the Supreme Court on 13 March 2012. The Supreme Court delivered its judgment on 9 August 2012, declining Right to Life's appeal by a 3-2 majority decision and upholding the Wall v. Livingston decision. The Court ruled that the Abortion Supervisory Committee could not investigate the decision-making of certifying consultants in individual cases but also made it clear that the ASC could ask consultants how they were making their decisions in general. Orr claimed the latter ruling as a victory in holding consultants accountable for abortions that they authorised. Right to Life Inc applied to recall that part of the judgment which dealt with costs, but the recall application was declined by the Supreme Court on 25 October 2012.

Recent campaigns

Since 2017, Right to Life New Zealand has also opposed efforts to legalise

and assisted suicide. As of 2019, the group is lobbying against ACT Party leader David Seymour's proposed

End of Life Choice Bill The End of Life Choice Act 2019 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand that seeks to give people with a terminal illness the option of receiving assisted dying. The Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Health confirmed that, "The Bill uses “a ...

, which passed its second reading in late June 2019. In addition, Right to Life also opposes

contraception Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

In vitro fertilisation In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) ...

, and

prenatal testing Prenatal testing consists of prenatal screening and prenatal diagnosis, which are aspects of prenatal care that focus on detecting problems with the pregnancy as early as possible. These may be anatomic and physiologic problems with the health o ...

Decriminalisation of Abortion: March 2020

In August 2019, Right to Life NZ urged supporters to make submissions opposing the Labour-led coalition government's proposed Abortion Legislation Act 2020, which intends to remove abortion from the

Crimes Act 1961 The Crimes Act 1961 is an act of New Zealand Parliament that forms a leading part of the criminal law in New Zealand. It repeals the Crimes Act 1908, itself a successor of the Criminal Code Act 1893. Most crimes in New Zealand are created by ...

and ease access to termination services. However, it failed to achieve that objective after the third and final reading of the Abortion Legislation Act on 23 March, 2020, after which it became law. Nor was Right to Life New Zealand any more successful in its concurrent campaign against the End of Life Choice Act 2019, which sought to ratify the decriminalisation of voluntary euthanasia. The End of Life Choice Act passed after a binding referendum was held alongside the

New Zealand general election 2020 The 2020 New Zealand general election was held on Saturday 17 October 2020 to determine the composition of the 53rd parliament. Voters elected 120 members to the House of Representatives, 72 from single-member electorates and 48 from closed ...

by a margin of 65.9% (support) compared to 34.1% (opposed).

References

External links

Right to Life New Zealand's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Right To Life New Zealand Anti-abortion organisations in New Zealand 1999 establishments in New Zealand