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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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ALRANZ Applauds Ruling in Abortion Case
ALRANZ tonight applauded the Court of Appeal judgment in the long-running anti-abortion court case as a victory for the reproductive rights of all New Zealand women.
“Today’s ruling issued by the Court of Appeal rejected a series of legal challenges to abortion access in New Zealand by the anti-abortion group Right to Life, which began in 2005,” ALRANZ president Dr. Morgan Healey said tonight.
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ALRANZ Supports Current Law on Teens' Privacy
ALRANZ said today it was concerned that the understandable anguish felt by a mother whose 16-year-old daughter had an abortion without her mother's knowledge would be used by those opposed to reproductive rights to again call for mandatory parental notification for teenagers seeking abortion care.
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Alranz Relieved to See ASC Position Filled
The Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand (ALRANZ) is relieved that the third position on the Abortion Supervisory Committee (ASC) has finally been filled after the announcement in July 2010 that Dr Rosemary Fenwicke would not seek reappointment. ALRANZ was concerned that with only two people on the Committee, there was limited capacity to perform the core functions of the ASC.
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ALRANZ Announces New Leadership Line-up
Longtime ALRANZ President, Dame Margaret Sparrow, last night handed leadership of New Zealand’s oldest pro-choice organisation to a new president, Dr. Morgan Healey.
In her report to ALRANZ’s Annual General Meeting, held Tuesday night in Wellington, Dame Margaret noted that abortion was surfacing again “not only as a public health issue but also as a human rights issue and a woman’s rights issue”.
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On 40th Anniversary, ALRANZ Joins New Campaign
On the 40th anniversary of its first ever public meeting, the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand is excited to announce its participation in a new campaign to decriminalise New Zealand’s outdated abortion laws.
Forty years ago, on 17 March 1971, ALRANZ held its first meeting in a community hall in Auckland, which was attended by about 300 people.
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ALRANZ Disappointed At Early Medical Abortion Decision
ALRANZ is extremely disappointed that Family Planning has withdrawn its bid to provide early medical abortions at its Hamilton clinic, the association’s president, Dame Margaret Sparrow, said today.
Family Planning applied nearly two years ago for a licence to provide abortion using the two drugs Mifegyne (mifepristone) followed by misoprostol. Dame Margaret said she was concerned it had taken this long for an outcome.
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Concern at Domestic Violence - Abortion Link
The 2010 Abortion Supervisory Committee report, issued Wednesday, raises serious concerns about links between domestic violence and abortion in New Zealand, the president of the Abortion Law Reform Association, Dame Margaret Sparrow, said today.
This year’s report reveals that one third of women having an abortion at Auckland’s Epsom Day Unit had a history of domestic violence, a situation that is of great concern to ALRANZ, Dame Margaret said.
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High Court Rejects Broadening Scope of Conscientious Objection Over Abortion
The recent High Court ruling on the draft Medical Council guidelines on conscientious objection over abortion exposes yet again problems with our outdated abortion laws the president of the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand, Dame Margaret Sparrow, said today.
“Groups opposed to abortion have stated that the 2 December ruling by Justice MacKenzie in the challenge to the Medical Council guidelines brought by a group of anti-abortion doctors upheld the rights of conscience of medical practitioners” Dame Margaret said.
“And so it did – but that right was never in question.”
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ALRANZ Urges Opposition to Anti-Student Union Bill
The Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand (ALRANZ) is calling on Members of Parliament (MPs) to vote against the Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill.
ALRANZ affirms its continued support for the New Zealand Union of Student Associations (NZUSA), and considers that the legislation, which is almost at its final reading, will be detrimental to the integrity of student associations across the country.
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New Book Tells NZ's Hidden History of Abortion
A groundbreaking book detailing a hidden history of abortion in New Zealand, told primarily by those whose lives it affected, was launched in Wellington on Tuesday night by the Labour MP Steve Chadwick and the book’s author, ALRANZ president, Dame Margaret Sparrow.
“Abortion Then & Now: New Zealand Abortion Stories From 1940 to 1980” includes 70 first-person accounts gathered over five years as part of a history project by ALRANZ. It is being published by Victoria University Press.
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ALRANZ Supports Australian Pro-Choice Day of Action
ALRANZ today expressed its strong support for Saturday’s National Day of Action by Australian pro-choice groups over the upcoming trial in Queensland of a young woman and her partner who face charges in relation to an alleged illegal abortion.
ALRANZ President Dame Margaret Sparrow said the case, which is being prosecuted under Queensland’s antiquated anti-abortion laws, shows the urgent need for abortion to be decriminalised, as has been done in Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory.
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Anti-Abortion Case Reflects Political Apathy Over Women's Rights
The long-running anti-abortion case that returns to the Court of Appeal in Wellington on Tuesday is a sad indictment of a Parliament unwilling to protect New Zealand women’s reproductive rights, the president of the Abortion Law Reform Association, Dame Margaret Sparrow, said today.
The Right to Life v. Abortion Supervisory Committee case, which began more than five years ago, is aimed at restricting women’s access to abortion services, Dame Margaret said, and has only remained alive in the courts so long because of our unworkable abortion laws.
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ALRANZ Dismayed at Anti-Student Union Recommendation
The Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand (ALRANZ) is deeply
dismayed at the recent recommendation of the Education and Science Select Committee to adopt the Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill.
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ALRANZ Backs Chadwick's Legalisation Proposal
ALRANZ today expresses its full support for Labour MP Steve Chadwick’s proposal to legalise abortion in New Zealand, the association’s president, Dame Margaret Sparrow, said.
Ms. Chadwick’s proposal, as outlined in a newspaper article, is to give women access to abortion on request up until 24 weeks of pregnancy.
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Abortion Figures Show ASC Must Act
Abortion figures just issued by Statistics NZ highlight the need for action on Family Planning’s proposal to provide early medical abortion services, the president of the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand, Dame Margaret Sparrow, said today.
The figures for 2009 show New Zealand still lags in ensuring abortions are carried out as early as possible, although there is an improving trend.
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ASC Report Shows Abortion Access Problems
The 2009 Abortion Supervisory Committee report, issued Tuesday, shows New Zealand women are having later abortions because of problems accessing services, the president of the Abortion Law Reform Association, Dame Margaret Sparrow, said today.
The ASC itself says in the report (see bullet points below for the report’s highlights) it was “concerned that many women are not able to access abortion before 9 weeks gestation,” and Alranz echoes that concern.
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ALRANZ Questions Study on Mental Health and Abortion
A new study on abortion and mental health contains good news for supporters of safe and accessible abortion, but some of its conclusions overreach the data, the president of the Abortion Law Reform Association, Dame Margaret Sparrow, said today.
“The authors of the new study (led by David Fergusson), as well as the news media, have tended to pluck out and highlight questionable results that seem aimed at undermining abortion access, while downplaying or ignoring clear evidence that women want and benefit from that access,” she said.
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ALRANZ responds to RTL misinformation
The anti-abortion group Right to Life is using threats, intimidation tactics and lies in its latest attempt to limit New Zealand women’s access to reproductive health care, the president of the Abortion Law Reform Association, Dame Margaret Sparrow, said today.
“Right to Life, which is already engaged in long-running legal battle to end abortion in New Zealand, is threatening fresh legal action against a Family Planning proposal to provide early medical abortions,” Dame Margaret said. “But perhaps even worse than the legal threats is the lies.”
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More Cost to Taxpayers for no gain
Another Court hearing, more costs to taxpayers, and the case is still not resolved, Alranz president Dr. Margaret Sparrow said today.
The case, Right to Life New Zealand versus the Abortion Supervisory Committee, has already cost the government $279,850 and there will be more costs before it has run its course.
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Cost to Taxpayers of Anti-Abortion Case: $280,000
Information just released under the Official Information Act shows Right to Life’s on-going legal effort to restrict abortion in New Zealand has cost taxpayers more than a quarter of a million dollars, Alranz president Dr. Margaret Sparrow said today.
The case, which is back in the High Court tomorrow, began in 2005 and, according to the Abortion Supervisory Committee, has cost the government $279,850.
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Abortion law needs to match abortion practice
“The annual abortion figures just issued by Statistics New Zealand show a levelling off in abortion numbers since the peak in 2003 although the reasons for this are not fully understood” Dr. Margaret Sparrow, the president of the Abortion Law Reform Association said today. “Possible explanations are the greater use of contraception including emergency contraception, and responsible sex education although the decrease is across all age groups so it may be reflecting the economic pressures on families. We simply do not know.”
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Appeal Court Dismisses Abortion Case
“An expensive waste of the court’s time” was the comment by Alranz President Dr Margaret Sparrow when the long running case of Right To Life New Zealand v Abortion Supervisory Committee was dismissed by the three judges of the Appeal Court in a hearing today.
Crown Law representing the Abortion Supervisory Committee had sought a ruling as to the admissibility of the case and the advice from Appeal Court Judge Baragwanath on 17 July was that it should proceed.
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MPs Must Oppose Anti-Abortion Legal Challenge
The Abortion Law Reform Association today called on Members of Parliament to publicly support the Abortion Supervisory Committee in its court battle this week against the anti-abortion group Right to Life.
“The Crown lawyers defending the ASC, and in turn the reproductive rights of New Zealand women, need to be given the full backing of legislators in the face of a case that is aimed at ending access to safe abortions,” Alranz president Margaret Sparrow said today.
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Smuggled Pills a Health Risk
Medication abortions are safe, but they must be used with medical supervision said Dr Margaret Sparrow, the National President of Alranz said today.
Dr. Sparrow was responding to a news report from Brisbane that a 19-year-old young woman and her 21-year-old boyfriend have both been charged with procuring an abortion. The reported allegations by Police are that a family member obtained misoprostol from a doctor in the Ukraine and smuggled it into Australia on a flight to Cairns on Christmas Day 2008.
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Samoan Women at Risk
A lack of reproductive freedoms for women in Samoa is putting lives at risk, the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand said today.
“Samoa’s restrictive abortion laws, which in 2004 led to the imprisonment of a hospital nurse for performing an illegal abortion, are leaving Samoan women with few options,” Dr. Sparrow said. “Doctors there have told us that in the wake of that case, more women are trying to abort themselves or resorting to other illegal practices, at great danger to their health.”
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Further Research Needed on Abortion and Mental Health
According to a new study from the University of Otago, Christchurch, published in the December issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, there is a small association between abortion and mental health but the researchers say that their findings point to a “middle-of-the-road” position on abortion, supporting neither the strong pro-life or pro-choice arguments.
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Family Planning Initiative Will Make Abortion Safer
Offering women early medical abortions at Family Planning clinics will help cut waiting times, making abortions safer for New Zealand women, Dr. Margaret Sparrow, the National President of Alranz, said today.
Dr. Sparrow was responding to the announcement by Family Planning that they will be applying for a licence to provide early medical abortion using the drug Mifegyne (mifepristone), formerly known as RU486. Dr. Sparrow was one of a group of doctors who first introduced Mifegyne into New Zealand, and it was approved for use here in 2001.
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Medical Abortions are Safe
Offering women early medical abortions at Family Planning clinics will make abortions safer for New Zealand women, Dr. Margaret Sparrow, the National President of Alranz, said today.
Dr. Sparrow was responding to opponents of abortion citing serious complications and deaths from medical abortion. “While morbidity and mortality must be a concern it is important to keep this in perspective as all medications have side effects, even aspirin which is available over the counter.”
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Abortion Opponents Spreading Dangerous Misinformation
Opponents of Family Planning’s proposal to provide medical abortions in its clinics must be called to account for the dangerous misinformation they are spreading about the method, Dr Margaret Sparrow, the President of Alranz said today.
“Among the irresponsible and quite untrue claims are that medical abortion is unsafe, it has not been properly researched, the process takes a week and fails in 20 per cent of cases,” Dr Sparrow said. “Anti-abortion groups have every right to express their point of view but not to deliberately misinform women.”
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