FEBRUARY 2007 NEWSLETTER

ALRANZ News

Parliamentarians’ Group

        The aim of the meeting was to raise awareness amongst parliamentarians of the current issues around young people and sexual and reproductive health in the context that NZ has one of the highest rates of unplanned pregnancy and STI rates in the OECD. A report of the meeting will be used to inform and influence parliamentarians, policy makers and other interested parties.

        The NZPPD was established in 1998 in response to the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development and its Programme of Action to which 179 countries subscribed. Funded by the United Nations Population Fund the group is modelled on UK and Australian groups and is part of an international network.

        ALRANZ’s  submission was the only one that looked in detail at abortion and abortion services and we made a strong recommendation for more research in parallel with policy development.

Abortion Supervisory Committee

On September 8 2005 the ASC tried to have the case struck out but Judge Wild removed only two of the six contested grounds allowing the case to proceed.

On 29 November 2006 there was a further hearing in the High Court Wellington when the ASC challenged the inclusion of evidence from six women who have had abortions and one psychiatrist, Dunedin based Dr Julia Aranui-Faed.  ASC claimed that the affidavits were of little relevance and in the case of the women were non-expert opinion and made solely for the purpose of generating publicity. Associate Judge Gendall ruled that the evidence was admissable but the ASC have requested a review of this decision by a full High Court Judge. The ASC is represented by lawyers from the Crown Law Office and RTLNZ by Peter McKenzie Q.C. The six women were granted suppression of their names.

Book Reviews

        On Tuesday 21 November 2006 investigative journalist Nicky Hager held a press conference announcing the existence of his book which could not be released because of an injunction obtained by National Party Leader Don Brash. The book contained explosive revelations concerning financial ties to the Exclusive Brethren and was partly based on leaked email correspondence hence the injunction. Much to the relief of the public the injunction was lifted on Friday 24 November and we could read for ourselves what Nicky Hager had been working on for the past 3 years, building up a conclusive case against the National Party hierarchy. It is a very convincing behind the scenes exposure of duplicity and deceptions and Brash’s replacement John Key does not emerge unscathed. The Exclusive Brethren has been involved in similar campaigns in other countries.

        Not surprisingly on Thursday 23 November Don Brash announced his resignation as National Party Leader although he claimed this was not because of the book. [His resignation became effective on 8 February 2007 when Katrina Shanks, Wellington based accountant and mother of three was declared the new National Party List MP. She almost won the Ohariu-Belmont seat at the last election until special votes were counted.]

        The foreword is written by Marilyn Waring. She reminds us of previous links between religion and politics e.g. in the 1970s when Rob Muldoon and SPUC’s Des Dalgety worked closely with Tablet editor John Kennedy.

        This book is an example of good investigative journalism with the focus remaining clearly on the politics of democracy and eschewing details of Brash’s private life which would have led to even more embarrassment. Many of the insights apply not just to the National Party but to the political process in general.

A previous hardback edition was published in 2005 as “With Liberty and Justice for All”. Kate Michelman has been one of the most influential pro-choice activists in the USA over the past two decades. She is respected as an effective lobbyist, political strategist and from 1985-2004 was the President of NARAL now NARAL Pro-Choice America. This is both a personal and a political account of her involvement in the abortion issue. She begins in 1969 with the humiliation of the experience when, as a young mother of three whose husband had just left her, she was seeking an abortion from a panel of hospital doctors. When her daughters were established in school she became involved in early childhood education then in family planning services. It was a huge leap when in 1984 she moved to Washington to join NARAL. Her first major political campaign was in 1987 when Ronald Reagan nominated ultra conservative Robert Bork for the Supreme Court. In the end the Senate voted 58-42 against his appointment. In 1989 the Supreme Court argued an important case Webster v. Reproductive Health Services. A Missouri law prohibited the use of public funds or facilities for performing abortions or even counselling women about abortion. NARAL presented a large dossier of women’s stories but the Court upheld the Missouri law. In 1992 the Supreme Court argued Planned Parenthood v. Casey which challenged the constitutionality of a Pennsylvania law restricting access to abortion. Although this case did not overturn Roe v. Wade as some feared it would, the decision allowed states to impose a wide range of restrictions on the right to choose as long as they were deemed not to cause an “undue burden”. Since Webster and Casey pro-choice fears have been realised with over 400 instances of state legislatures restricting abortion services. The election of President Clinton was a turning point in the struggle for a woman’s right to choose notably when he vetoed the bill banning so called “partial birth abortion”. The author provides us with insights into these and many other events - the demonstrations, the marches, the violence. The conclusion is a sobering one: the right to choose is still highly vulnerable. 

        This was a light summer read good for a rainy day at the bach. Abortionist Dr Diana Duprey is found murdered in her own swimming pool. Several people have quarelled with her on that fateful day, her husband of 20 years, her wayward 19 year-old daughter and the parents of one of her patients. There is an ongoing conflict with anti-abortionists. This who-done-it is set in a small town in Colorado.

Journal article

             

Obituary

Late Term Abortions in New Zealand

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