Baldock Larry: Care of Children Bill — Instruction to Committee Procedure In Committee 
Baldock Larry: Care of Children Bill — Instruction to Committee Procedure In Committee 
[Volume:621;Page:16664] 
LARRY BALDOCK (United Future) 
: 
 I too rise to speak on this issue of clause 37. It is a very important part of this bill and it deserves the attention of the members of this Committee. The Minister in defence of the Government’s position has read out to us this evening articles from newspapers around New Zealand as though we are supposed to take the authority of editorial writers— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: I am sorry to interrupt the member but there was far too much talk during the last member’s speech. I ask everybody to give those who are speaking the courtesy of some quiet. 
LARRY BALDOCK 
: I do not believe that we ought to be letting our newspaper columnists determine what is in the good interests of children and parents of this country so I am not impressed with the Minister’s evidence. Also the professionals who have cried out to us to support the bill do not impress me either. Many professionals miss the reality of how much risk is involved in an abortion. It is a surgical procedure as my colleague Judy Turner pointed out before and it is not something that one can enter into lightly. It would be different perhaps if the bill required young people to go to their own general practitioner who has a history of a relationship with the family and who may give better advice than some doctor or professional somewhere to whom a counsellor from the school may take the child. 
All MPs come to this House with experience of different occupations previously. Lianne Dalziel asked us where the evidence was that something was going wrong with this legislation in New Zealand. I want to bring my evidence to this debate. It comes out of 20 years of experience. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: I have already asked members to be seated and quiet. The noise is not acceptable. The member is really struggling to be heard. 
LARRY BALDOCK 
: For more than 20 years I travelled the world ministering to young people on a particular subject relating to their relationship with their parents and other family members. One of the single most important factors in the breakdown of their relationships is secrets they have kept involving a variety of issues which begin to undermine an open and loving relationship with their parents and other family members. On hundreds of occasions I have had to hold young people in my arms as they wept uncontrollably with the shame and guilt they have carried for years because of something they did wrong or because of something wrong that was done to them and that was kept secret from others. In fact they lived in fear of that secret ever becoming known. The problem is that the fear and the secrecy do not go away. They continue to intensify in their relationships with their parents and create wider and wider gulfs in that relationship—a relationship that ought to be a normal and happy one. I have even had to deal with people who were 75 years old who had had an abortion when they were young and had not told their parents. They had carried that secret for all those years and could not resolve it because they had not been prepared to come to terms with their need to share it with their parents. 
Parents are unique individuals. Not just anybody can be a parent. Parents play a unique role in our lives. Even parents who are not good parents still have an incredible bond with us and we with them and any difficulties have to be resolved through good relationships with them. Sometimes it is painful to confess things to our parents and to have to face the possible consequences of their being disappointed in our actions. But for healthy relationships to develop it is essential that someone helps us get through that process so that we do not carry deeply held secrets in our lives that ultimately will spill over into many areas affecting our ability to relate in life with not only our parents but many others. 
I believe that this law is creating a situation that will encourage children to keep things secret. I do not trust the professionals in our nation. I do not trust the Family Planning Association to give the right kind of advice because it does not take on the responsibility of parents. It deals with these children then leaves them to go on in life and face the consequences of these decisions. It is not committed to them year in and year out helping them to work things through. Parents have a right to be involved in these important decisions. 
The proposals put forward in these amendments offer very very practical solutions to deal with the exceptions to the circumstances that have been raised by those who are in support of this legislation. There are many nations in this world and there are many states in the United States that have a requirement for parent notification and it does not result in the nightmarish situations that have been put forward by those who are supporting this legislation. It is possible to have reasonably held exceptions that can deal with the problems that have been put forward. That is what we propose when we ask the Committee to consider these amendments.