Little AndrewABORTION LEGISLATION BILLFirst ReadingHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Justice): I move That the Abortion Legislation Bill be now read a first time. The House has decided that the Abortion Legislation Committee will consider the bill.Around 13200 abortions are carried out in New Zealand each year under our current law. Under that law when a woman seeks an abortion she is in the first instance committing a criminal act. Women seeking an abortion have a defence to the crime if they comply with the requirements of the Crimes Act and the Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977. Complying with the Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion Act requires a woman to obtain the approval of two or possibly three certifying consultants usually after consulting her GP. Those consultants must be satisfied amongst other things that continuing the pregnancy would result in serious danger to the physical or mental health of the woman. There are other grounds but this is the most commonly relied upon ground. That is the test if the abortion is to happen in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. After 20 weeks the test is that the abortion must be necessary to save the life of the woman or to prevent serious permanent injury to her physical or mental health.The requirements of the 1977 Act are onerous and bureaucratic and for most women securing an abortion requires them to maintain a fiction about their mental health. In my view it is wrong that our present law characterises a decision that a woman wishes to make about her own body and her reproductive choices as criminal and it is wrong that in making that decision a woman has to go through a set of processes that no other person seeking a medical procedure has to go through. My Abortion Legislation Bill seeks to change this. The primary objective of the bill is to shift abortion out of the criminal law framework in which it sits at the moment and place it in a health framework where it properly belongs. In the end the bill is not only about confirming the right of a woman to choose whether she proceeds with a pregnancy but also about respecting her ability to do so.Before I outline the specific measures in the bill I want to acknowledge that I am acutely aware that this issue is freighted with deeply held personal political faith-based and emotional views which lead different people to different conclusions. I am aware that members right now are being inundated with messages from members of the public about this issue and about how to vote on it but this is a conscience issue and I will shortly set out how I arrive at my view. But first let us understand what is happening in New Zealand right now.As I said at the beginning around 13200 abortions are carried out in New Zealand each year. That number has been falling over the last 10 years. Ninety percent of abortions in New Zealand occur in the first trimester of pregnancy; 98 percent occur in the first 16 weeks. Even under the laws in place today there are abortions that are carried out after 20 weeks. In the 12 months to 30 June 2018 57 abortions were carried out after 20 weeks. The evidence is that virtually all abortions carried out after 20 weeks are because of severe foetal abnormality or because there is a severe risk to the woman's life or physical health. And for the record let me state there is no such thing as full-term abortion".Much of the contribution to the public debate about abortion will come from people who because of their faith or other deeply held views are opposed to abortion at all. Some regard it as a denial of life or a breach of human rights and we will hear extravagant language in the public debate about this referring to "killing" and "murder". I reject those notions. I accept on legal and moral grounds the established jurisprudence in New Zealand that human rights do not accrue until human life is possible and that the widely accepted human rights that we all understand apply when they are capable of being exercised which is to say I accept the "born alive" principle that guides our courts today. But it is for these reasons also however that I believe foetal viability is a relevant consideration in setting up a legal framework for abortions and that a gestational threshold at which different considerations apply is appropriate as a matter of public policy.The principal features of the bill are these: firstly the bill shifts the law about abortion from the criminal context to a health context. Next it says that for abortions up to 20 weeks of pregnancy the decision on whether or not to have an abortion is for the woman concerned in consultation with her health professional. After 20 weeks a health professional carrying out an abortion must be satisfied that it is appropriate in light of the woman's physical and mental health and her wellbeing. Next there will be no need for certifying consultants. One benefit of this is that whereas at the moment abortions in New Zealand are on average later in the pregnancy than other comparable countries this will mean that New Zealand women can get access to services earlier and that will be safer for them.Next it will continue to be mandatory for health professionals to offer counselling for women but it will not be mandatory for a woman seeking an abortion to have counselling. Next women will be able to self-refer to abortion services. Next health practitioners who have a conscientious objection to providing advice on abortion or administering an abortion must refer a woman to the Ministry of Health who will provide advice to that woman on how relevant services can be obtained.Next there will be a regulation-making power for the Minister of Health to establish safe zones around clinics if there is a need to do so. Members will be aware that the Law Commission report on which this bill is based was somewhat indifferent about whether or not safe zones needed to be established but I through correspondence have seen evidence that suggests that at least in some places it may well be a device that needs to be called upon.Finally in this regard the Abortion Supervisory Committee will go and oversight of the abortion regime will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Health and also the professional bodies to which health professionals belong. It should be remembered too that we have health legislation such as the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act and the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act that did not exist in 1977 when the last abortion law was created.What crimes do remain on our statute book will relate to abortions being carried out by unauthorised health professionals or those who claim to be health professionals but are not authorised to carry out abortions. The other crime that will remain on the statute book effectively deals with assaults on pregnant women who as a result of that assault lose their pregnancy.In putting together the bill I have been assisted by a large number of people people who have been working on this issue in some cases for many many years. I've also been assisted by members former members of this House and current members today as well. I don't want to go into a long list but I do want to acknowledge two people. The first is the Prime Minister who early in the life of this Government discussed this issue with me and pointed out how she had made or given assurances on the campaign trail in 2017 that she would strive to get abortion as an issue out of a criminal framework and into a health framework. I am very thankful for the support and wisdom of the Prime Minister in developing the bill as it is today.I also want to acknowledge the Leader of the Opposition Simon Bridges. Mr Bridges has a well-articulated and well-known view about abortion and as the leader of a conservative party in any country his view is unremarkable but earlier this week he indicated that he was prepared to support this bill for first reading. Now I acknowledge very quickly that does not bind him to any other vote in any other way later in the development or the votes on this particular bill but his indication paves the way possibly for this House to consider and examine this bill and for good public debate to be held across New Zealand. I commend this bill to the House."