NATIONAL NEWSLETTER – AUGUST 2009

ALRANZ NEWS

The AGM of ALRANZ National was held on Saturday 23 May in Wellington. Office bearers as above were re-elected and we welcomed Lesley Smith, a long standing member of ALRANZ, as our new secretary. 

Have you taken the opportunity to check out the new shared website at Issues.co.nz? The ALRANZ pages were opened on 20 April 2009 and the campaign title is KEEP ABORTION SAFE AND LEGAL. Go to www.issues.co.nz/abortion  On 22 July the blog site was set up and members are encouraged to contribute.

ALRANZ appreciates the contributions from members Dr Jim Hefford and Pat Syme on the Issues website. Jim spent a year in Saudi Arabia and has written about abortion in the Middle East and Pat who spent time in Canada has written on Dr Henry Morgentaler and the Canadian abortion law. You will find their articles in the section on Abortion Around the World. There are many more stories out there waiting to be told so please start writing. And if you want to be a little bit more informed about fertilised eggs check out Embryology for Beginners in the section on Research and Articles.

The debate on abortion in New Zealand is definitely surfacing again. We must be on the alert to provide accurate information and correct misinformation. Watch the daily newspapers and internet blog sites and contribute to the debate when you can.

Since the last newsletter ALRANZ has sent out three media releases on the court case involving the Abortion Supervisory Committee (ASC) defending charges brought by Right to Life New Zealand (RTL). In answer to our Official Information request the ASC said that almost $280,000 has been spent so far and that does not include the hearing on 20 July 2009 and any subsequent court action. Ken Orr has publicly stated that RTL’s costs have so far amounted to $80,000 thanks to his lawyers charging reduced rates. This money could be better used in preventing unplanned pregnancies.

ALRANZ has made recent submissions to the ASC on draft standards of care for women requesting abortion and to the NZ Parliamentarians’ Group on Population and Development in abortion in the Pacific. The latter group, chaired by Dr Jackie Blue will be holding an Open Hearing at parliament on 21 September 2009. The topic is Maternal Health in the Pacific and a wide range of issues is covered including childbirth, family planning, STIs, HIV and nutrition.

On accepting the title of Dame, president Margaret Sparrow said that she hoped it would lead to less stigma and greater acceptance of abortion by the community. She received her award seven years ago for services to medicine and felt relaxed about having or not having a title. Others to accept the title were the Hon. Margaret Shields previous Minister of Women’s Affairs, a long time supporter of abortion rights and Deirdre Milne another supporter who will be remembered as the convenor of the abortion workshops at the first United Women’s Convention in Auckland in 1973. Professor Linda Holloway chairperson of the ASC also accepted the title. They were among a large group of previous recipients who did not receive a title when Helen Clark’s Labour government in 2000 changed the honours system and abandoned titles in favour of what were considered more egalitarian New Zealand values. When John Key’s National government reinstated the titular honours 72 chose to accept and 13 chose to decline. The changes were not without controversy.

 Obituaries

Dr Janet Irwin died in Nelson on 27 June 2009. Margaret Sparrow recalls that Janet was a classmate, both graduating in 1963. “Janet had returned to medical studies after 15 years raising a family of three and selling shoes. I was returning to medical studies after two years raising a family of two and found that challenging enough so Janet was a great role model. I felt that if she could do it, so could I.”

Janet was the daughter of medical activist Dr GM Smith well known as Rawene Smith after the small town in which he practised community medicine in the Hokianga.

After graduation Janet studied in Scotland and was then employed as a student health doctor at Canterbury University where she entered the abortion debates of the 1970s. In 1971 with Professor Gregson the two published, in the NZ Medical Journal, the results of a postal survey of 1,726 medical practitioners on their opinions on abortion. About 60% stated the need for some legal review but on analysis about 80% held views consistent with a revision of the statutes. This contradicted statements made by the establishment Medical Association that doctors opposed reform.

In 1976 Janet published the results of a survey she had conducted on sexual knowledge, attitudes and behaviour in 2175 first year students at Canterbury University and Teachers College. From 1974-1988 she was director of student health services at the University of Queensland and was actively involved in many issues. She was particularly supportive of Children By Choice in Brisbane. As a member of the University senate she opposed an honorary award to the Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. For her numerous contributions to women, medicine and social justice she was honoured as a Member of the Order of Australia and awarded the Centenary Medal.

Dr George R. Tiller, 67, was shot and killed on Sunday 31 May 2009 while he and his wife Jeanne were attending their Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas. The father of four and grandfather of 10 was an usher and she was in the choir. The killer used a handgun and fled the scene in a car. He was later apprehended on the interstate highway near Kansas City. The accused is a 51-year-old antiabortionist named Scott Roeder. He is accused of first degree murder of Tiller and two charges of aggravated assault on the two ushers who attempted to stop him. A preliminary hearing has already been held.

Dr Tiller was born in Wichita, Kansas on 8 August 1941 where his father Dr Jack Tiller was a family physician. He was planning to become a dermatologist but his career plans changed dramatically in 1970. On 21 August in that year his parents, his sister, and brother-in-law were killed when their small plane crashed near Yellowstone National Park. Dr Tiller adopted his orphaned infant nephew and returned to Wichita to take over his father’s family practice. Over time he became aware that his father had performed abortions to help women in his practice. In reflecting on his career he said these women taught him that abortion is sometimes a matter of survival and it is also about women's hopes, dreams, potential, for the rest of their lives.

In 1975 he opened his own clinic, Women’s Health Care. He was best known as one of the few doctors in the USA who provided late-term abortions after the 21st week of gestation. His clinic was one of only three in the whole of the USA. He pioneered the use of sonogram imaging during surgery and other procedures that have been adopted as the standard of care for abortion providers.

His clinic, home and community were the target of unrelenting protest activity over the years. In 1986 a bomb exploded on the roof of his clinic. Throughout the summer of 1991 protesters blockaded his clinic forcing it to shut down for several weeks. Some 2,700 protesters were arrested but he was undaunted. His clinic was heavily protected with bullet-proof glass and he wore a bullet-proof vest to work. When antiabortionists planned to commemorate the 10th anniversary of what they termed the 1991 ‘summer of mercy’, the Attorney-General John Ashcroft ordered US Marshals to protect Dr Tiller, enforcing a 1994 law against clinic violence.

In August 1993 he was shot in both arms by Mrs Rachelle “Shelley” Shannon, 37, an antiabortion activist from rural Oregon, who openly supported the killer of Dr David Gunn, the first US abortion doctor to be murdered in March 1963. Shannon is now serving an 11 year sentence for the wounding of Dr Tiller and another 20 years for attacks on nine other abortion clinics (several arson attacks and contamination with foul-smelling butyric acid.) After the shooting Dr Tiller returned to work the next day.

He has also been harassed through protracted court proceedings brought against him. In Kansas a little-used law enables citizens to force the impaneling of a grand jury if enough signatures are collected. In 2006 Operation Rescue and other antiabortionists collected signatures for a citizen-led petition allowing a grand jury to investigate the death of a 19-year-old patient with Down syndrome who had died in January 2005 of sepsis following an abortion at 28 weeks gestation. Dr Tiller was cleared of any wrong doing by the grand jury and also by the Kansas Board of Healing Arts.

Later that year Dr Tiller was again the subject of another grand jury investigation. It was seen by many as an abuse of the grand jury system. A citizen-led petition accused Dr Tiller of violating a 1998 state law restricting late-term abortions. Opponents wanted the grand jury to look at all late-term abortions at Dr Tiller’s clinic since 2003. When the jury reported in July 2008 Dr Tiller was not indicted. In the course of the proceedings there were serious concerns raised about the confidentiality of the patients’ medical records.

In December 2006 an antiabortion former state Attorney General, Republican Phill Kline tried to have Dr Tiller prosecuted for alleged violations of state law in 15 cases of late-term abortion. At the hearing the judge threw out the charges after less than a day. Kline appealed but the judge refused to reinstate charges.

In June 2007 the Democratic Attorney-General who replaced Kline also brought a case against Dr Tiller dating back to events of 2003. Kansas law permits late-term abortions when two independent doctors agree that the pregnant woman would be ‘irreparably harmed by giving birth.’ It was charged that Dr Tiller and Dr Kristin Neuhaus, who provided the second opinion, had an improper financial relationship. This they denied. The jurors took only 45 minutes to find Dr Tiller not guilty. However this was not the end of the case. Opponents had complained to the Kansas Board of Healing Arts with the same accusations. Only his death put an end to this harassment. Reaction to his death has been one of outrage at such violence.

Abortion Statistics

On the release of the abortion statistics on 16 June ALRANZ called for the abortion law to match abortion practice. Abortion numbers from Jan – Dec 2008 were down 440 from the previous year (from 18,510 to 17,940). The reduction was welcomed although the reasons behind it are not clear. In the same period births were up but the proportion of known pregnancies ending in abortion remained the same as in the previous year (220 per 1,000 known pregnancies).

Not only were the actual numbers down but more importantly the abortion rates per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years were also down from 20.1 to 19.7.

Another welcome trend was more abortions done at an early stage. The percentage of abortions carried out in the ninth week or gestation or earlier was up from 31% to 46%. This may be reflecting the use of early medical abortions in some clinics. Generally speaking the earlier the safer.

The long term trend shows a levelling off in abortion numbers over the last few years. ALRANZ warns against jumping to conclusions merely on the basis of numbers without in depth knowledge of the reasons.

For more information see www.stats.govt.nz

Politics

Leader of the Labour Party Phil Goff is asking for feedback on what issues are concerning people. In a brochure which some of you may have received he invites correspondence:

If you had just one thing to say to make a difference to New Zealand this is your chance to say it:

Dear Phil, I’ve been waiting to tell someone that what really matters is …………You can send your comments by mail (Freepost c/o Parliament Buildings, Wellington) or on line at www.philgoff.org.nz

Abortion Supervisory Committee court case

The RTL case against the ASC was heard in the Appeal Court on 12 May 2009. Three judges of the Appeal Court (Justices Chambers, Hammond and Robertson) dismissed the case as no declaratory order had been made in the High Court and therefore there was no case within the Appeal Court’s jurisdiction. This was contrary to the opinion previously given to the ASC in a Minute by Appeal Court Justice Baragwanath. The Appeal Court also expressed the opinion that some of the issues raised were constitutional and therefore the responsibility of parliament and not the courts. The recommendation was that the case be referred back to the High Court so that any declaratory orders could be made. Depending on this it would still be possible to return to the Appeal Court.

Accordingly the case was returned to the High Court in Wellington on 20 July when Justice Forrest Miller heard submissions from both parties. RTL proposed some draft declaratory orders aimed at restricting abortions and ASC argued these were unnecessary.

The case has now been considered by nine judges (Wild, Gendall, Young, France, Miller, Baragwanath, Hammond, Robertson, Chambers), an expensive and ponderously legalistic form of harassment by RTL that so far has changed nothing. And it’s not over yet. It is still possible that it will go back to the Appeal Court.

Justice Forrest Miller released his judgment on 3 August. On the positive side he declined to make any declaratory orders as requested by RTL. On the negative side it was his opinion that an unknown proportion of abortions were unlawful. The dubious ‘evidence’ for this seems only to be that 98% are done on the grounds of mental health.

In Judge Miller’s opinion it was clear that although the supervision of certifying consultants by the ASC was less rigorous than the legislature intended, he expected the ASC to administer the law as parliament intended without the need for formal orders. More importantly he was of the opinion that the ASC is supervised by parliament and this is the proper body to provide oversight, not the courts.

Members of the Justice and electoral select committee are Chester Borrows (National, chairperson) Simon Bridges (National, deputy chairperson), Jacinda Ardern (Labour), Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi (National), Dr Kennedy Graham (Green Party), Nathan Guy (National), David Parker (Labour), Lynne Pillay (Labour), and Paul Quinn (National).

If and when the functions of the ASC are reviewed by the Select Committee it is possible that submissions will be called for.

More opinion polls

In the last newsletter we mentioned the Massey University International Social Survey Programme on Religion in NZ which included questions on abortion.

The survey found that New Zealanders’ opinions on abortion generally tend to be liberal. The proportion of New Zealanders who think abortion is always wrong is between 5% and 10% depending on the circumstances, although this proportion rises to 25% if the reason is that the family cannot afford any more children.

Recent overseas polls have also come up with some figures. In a national USA survey in April CNN/Opinion Research Corp reported 49% identifying as pro-choice and 45% as pro-life. When asked if Roe v Wade should not be overturned 68% agreed. When asked “Do you think the government should be involved in trying to discourage abortion or do you think that the government should leave these matters to the individual 69% said it should be left to the individual. Of the 29% who said that the government should be involved in trying to discourage abortions, only 8% favoured using criminal enforcement methods.

Commenting on the poll results Steven Krull of the University of Maryland said that other polls have found if given a middle option – somewhere between strict prohibition and government permission – a significant number will choose that middle ground. He said that once the moral question is differentiated from the question of how the government should act, there is a substantial consensus that abortion should not be criminalized. In his opinion constructive options are more likely to emerge when abortion is no longer a crime.

However in May 2009 a Gallup Poll in the USA found that 51% of Americans now call themselves pro-life and 42% pro-choice. This is the first time in 15 years that the majority has identified as pro-life. According to this survey Americans remain deeply divided with 23% saying it should be legal under any circumstances and 53% saying it should be legal under certain circumstances.

Critics say that the terms pro-choice and pro-life inaccurately define the parameters of the debate, and it is interesting that a majority of people say they are both pro-life and that abortion should be legal.

ALRANZ is inclined to the view that there is little room for popular opinion as expressed in public opinion polls when deciding abortion policy. Abortion rights and moral independence are fundamental to women’s freedom and must be protected regardless of public opinion. Laws trampling women’s freedom are unjustified no matter how many people support them.

Book Reviews

A Lawyer’s Tale by Duncan McMullin Self published 2008 and available through Auckland District Law Society. Price $28.89.

This started as a family history and ended up as an account of his career as a lawyer and judge. Of particular interest to ALRANZ members is the brief chapter on The Abortion Commission, not an accurate history and coloured by hindsight.

He writes, “However, in answer to the criticism of the liberals, I would say that once abortion on the ground of mental health of the mother is allowed (which was what we did), abortion as of right can quickly follow. I always thought that, under our formula that there might be 5,000 abortions a year. I never anticipated that there would be as many as 17,934 (2006).” At the time in 1977 he gave no indication that mental health was a surrogate for abortion as of right and the figure of 5,000 is just plucked out of the air.

In giving his opinion of the present law he writes “I think it is better to leave things as they are where any woman who needs an abortion and remotely meets the criteria can get one while, at the same time, recognition is given to the fact that the unborn child represents a human being in the making.”

Considering the fact that RTL uphold with reverence the findings of the Royal Commission this is an extraordinary statement. Remotely meeting criteria sounds more like abortion on request.

Access to safe abortion by Marcel Vekemans, Upeka de Silva and Manuelle Hurwitz Published recently by IPPF and available from the website www.ippf.org Click on Resources then Guides and toolkits. A comprehensive manual for professionals, policy makers and abortion advocates. It provides an analysis of abortion laws and obstacles and a toolkit for assessment. Highly recommended.

Petition on sexual rights for all

Another initiative from IPPF is a petition on improving sexual rights for all but with a special focus on young people. To sign the petition go to www.15andcounting.org

OVERSEAS NEWS

Australia

Marie Stopes International announced this week (10 August) that they have been granted approval by the TGA (Therapeutic Drug Administration) to offer an early medical abortion service in nine of their Australian clinics in NSW, Victoria, WA, ACT and Queensland. MSI is importing Miffee, not a mixture of Milo and coffee, but a European brand of mifepristone.

The service will be available in community based clinics for women up to nine weeks gestation. This will be an encouragement to Family Planning in New Zealand who has applied to offer a similar service in one of their clinics. After all we don’t need expensive hospitals to dispense pills.

Unfortunately MSI’s initiative is too late for Teagan Leach. More facts have emerged in the Queensland case of 19-year-old Teagan who together with her 21-year-old boyfriend is due to appear again in the Cairns Magistrates Court on 3 September 2009 for a committal hearing to determine whether the case will go to trial. The case has reactivated the abortion debate in Queensland. ALRANZ is also keeping readers up to date on  www.issues.co.nz  For more details go to www.prochoiceqld.org.au  It appears that the prosecution arose when police were investigating an unrelated crime. Both could face a prison sentence if convicted of procuring an abortion through importing a Chinese version of mifepristone (Mifolian) and a prostaglandin. They apparently obtained the drugs from a doctor in the Ukraine through the boyfriend’s sister.

Not only has the couple had to endure the stress of an unplanned pregnancy, police enquiries, prosecution and public scrutiny but they have also been targetted by antis. Their home was firebombed and the young man’s car was vandalised.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh is reputedly pro-choice but she has been unwilling to help the young couple, despite the ALP state conference affirming that the offence should be abolished. She says the case is not so much about abortion but about illegally importing prescription medicines. The charges however are for procuring an abortion.

Another outcome of this case has been a questioning by doctors of the legality of medical abortions in hospital. On the advice of the Solicitor-General this service has been suspended. What now for MSI in Queensland?

U.S.A.

Obama and abortion have remained in the news for various reasons. Protesters were there when he made his speech at Catholic University, Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana after receiving an honorary doctorate in May. He urged both sides to find common ground. That same month he nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor, 55, for the Supreme Court. She is Hispanic, Catholic, divorced with no children. Her parents emigrated from Puerto Rico and she was brought up in a New York City low income housing area. She is the first Hispanic and the third female to serve on the Supreme Court. Objections raised at her nomination were mainly because she had said “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” The Senate voted 68-31 to confirm her appointment. She was sworn in on 8 August 2009.

The leading US public health body the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) issued a report in July which found that falling rates of teenage pregnancies and STDs went into reverse in the Bush years. Although the report did not attribute a cause, groups that support comprehensive sex education have seized on the report as evidence of the failure of religiously driven policies that were based on abstinence only.