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Media Releases >>
Political Action on Abortion Rights Now Urgent
ALRANZ Applauds Ruling in Abortion Case
ALRANZ Supports Current Law on Teens' Privacy
ALRANZ Relieved to See ASC Position Filled
ALRANZ Announces New Leadership Line-up
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Media Releases >>
ALRANZ Pays Tribute to Departing MP Steve Chadwick
“Steve Chadwick is an articulate and engaging campaigner for women’s health rights, and we acknowledge her huge contribution to national politics,” ALRANZ President Dr Morgan Healey said today, in the wake of Chadwick’s announcement of her resignation.
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ALRANZ Accuses Medical Council of Caving In to Anti-Abortion Pressure
ALRANZ today hit out at the Medical Council for caving in to anti-abortion doctors and abandoning its own principles in the on-going case over the use of conscientious objection in abortion care.
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Abortion Stats Good Time for New Dialogue
With new figures showing a continued decline in New Zealand’s abortion rate, the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand (ALRANZ) is calling for a new debate this election season on the impact our out-dated abortion laws are having on New Zealand women.
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Cost in Abortion Case Could Pay for Quarter of a Million Condoms
For the money the government has spent defending itself in the 6-year-long Right to Life anti-abortion case, it could have paid for more than a quarter of a million condoms, preventing scores of unplanned pregnancies and abortions, ALRANZ President Dr. Morgan Healey said today.
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Abortion Access Again at Risk in Court Case
ALRANZ is disappointed that efforts to roll back abortion access in New Zealand are headed to the Supreme Court, with today's decision by the court to allow the anti-abortion group Right to Life leave to appeal in its 6-year-long anti-abortion legal action, president Dr. Morgan Healey said tonight.
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Political Action on Abortion Rights Now Urgent
The fresh round of court action against abortion access announced today by the anti-abortion group Right to Life shows yet again that Parliament must urgently address the need to decriminalise abortion in New Zealand, ALRANZ President Dr. Morgan Healey said today.
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Research >>
Why 24 Weeks? Discussion Document
(1) A medical practitioner may carry out an abortion on a woman who is more than 24 weeks pregnant only if the medical practitioner-
(a) reasonably believes that the abortion is appropriate in all the circumstances; and
(b) adheres to the relevant Ministry of Health guidelines when carrying out the abortion
(2) In considering whether the abortion is appropriate in all the circumstances, a medical practitioner must have regards to-
(a) all relevant medical circumstances; and
(b) the woman’s current and future physical, psychological and social circumstances.
What does the Victorian legislation (Abortion Law Reform Act 2008) on which the NZ draft Bill is based, say? The slight differences are underlined
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Geographical Access to Termination of Pregnancy Services in New Zealand
By Martha Silva and Rob McNeill
Centre for Health Services Research and Policy, University of Auckland,
New Zealand
In New Zealand, several studies have noted rising inequalities in health in the past two
decades.1 Ethnic and geographic disparities in health have also been well-documented.2,3
As a result, the government has made a commitment to reducing inequalities in health
between ethnic and socio-economic groups through the New Zealand Health Strategy.4
This paper discusses geographic access to first trimester termination of pregnancy (TOP)
services in New Zealand, and points towards the need for action to ensure equity in access to TOP services.
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Right to Life v Women of New Zealand: Update
This summary of the latest round of the long-running Right to Life v Abortion Supervisory Committee case is based on (a) reports from ALRANZ members who attended the most recent hearing on 5-6 October 2010, (b) media accounts, and (c) some of the written submissions to the court by the parties involved.
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Articles >>
A Mad Abortion Debate
Published in The Press, Christchurch 3 March 2009
In May the Appeal Court will deliberate on the lawfulness of the 98 percent to 99 percent abortions performed each year on mental health grounds in the long-running case brought by Right to Life New Zealand against the Abortion Supervisory Committee. Meanwhile, on a related front, abortion research carried out in New Zealand by Professor David Fergusson and colleagues is being used selectively by anti-abortion groups to justify their contention that abortion is detrimental to mental health. All of which raises the question: how did women’s psychological well-being become the main weapon in the war against choice?
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Embryology for Beginners
When does life begin?
This is a bit like asking which comes first, the chicken or the egg? In formulating an answer it is always a good idea to start with some basic facts and that is the intention of this article. The miracle of life is just that considering the natural loss along the way – unused eggs, unwanted sperm, rejected zygotes – and all that before pregnancy even begins. Curiously, the journey from fertilisation to birth begins with a baby.
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Appeal court can’t fix fundamentally flawed abortion law
New Zealand Herald, Page: 11
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
Outdated minority stance on moral values still casts a long shadow, says Alison McCulloch
GOVERNMENT lawyers are due back in court this month defending flawed abortion laws against an effort to make them even worse.
The anti-abortion group Right to Life began its latest legal battle over abortion five years ago and the case has now reached the Court of Appeal. Last year, the group was buoyed when Justice Forrest Miller ruled in the High Court that there was "reason to doubt the lawfulness" of many abortions in New Zealand.
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