Sio Hon Aupito William; Mallard TrevorHon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO (Associate Minister of Justice): I have been heavily lobbied by leaders of the faith community including my friends colleagues and members of the Pacific community. They are people I respect and work with. I have heard their voices loud and clear. They are passionate in their opposition to abortion. They value the life of the unborn child. I share this belief. I too am opposed to abortion. I too value the life of the unborn child. My earliest memory of the value of motherhood and the unborn child was witnessing how in Samoa the mother had a special position in village family life. She was protected from doing hard work. She was protected from the hot sun. People would serve her all the time. Food was more generous to the mother. She was surrounded with love care and support by the extended family. She was the centre of everything. Why? Because mothers carry an unborn member of the family. Protect the mother you protect the unborn child. Fast forward to today young Pacific people are seeing a different culture. They are seeing how some of our Samoan Tongan or Pacific men mistreat the women in their families including pregnant mothers. We don't talk about it because it is a thing of shame a stain on the family's mana. Women tell me keeping these issues in the shadows increases their effort for self-harm. Recently I saw a report of a man beating a woman beside a road in Tonga and cars passed by. A young Tongan woman from New Zealand stopped and videoed the incident. By videoing the incident from a distance the man stopped his violence. I suspect that that young woman the good Samaritan prevented further violence and harm.The constant flow of emails I have received from people have expressed strongly a total and complete opposition to abortion. They feel so strongly about this persuasion that they want everyone in New Zealand to abide by this belief. They feel so strongly that they've even threatened me: if I support this legislation they will not support me. This is not an easy decision for myself or any MP under that context nor it is easy for our Pacific communities. Let me share with them my own thoughts as I attempt to grapple with the moral and legal issues on this matter. The preamble of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child states: the child by reason of his [or her] physical and mental immaturity needs special safeguards and care including appropriate legal protection before as well as after birth". Yet the reality is that we have examples of Samoan or Pacific babies being left dead or abandoned.Here are a few examples. In 2017 a dead newborn child was left under a tree in the park in Māngere. In 2007 a dead newborn baby was thrown outside a window into a Dunedin garden. In 2009 a Samoan mother gave birth and left the dead baby in a toilet of the plane she was on; she was convicted under our laws and discharged—everyone was quick to condemn her. Why didn't any of these women seek support from their families or church leaders? Why didn't they seek counselling and health advice? I suspect some of our cultural practices are unloving and uncaring. These women will harm themselves and their unborn child out of fear and shame. Why did we not condemn the man that contributed to the pregnancy? Instead we condemned the woman we ostracised her and called her all sorts of names. Where was love and compassion in all of this?—our values. Where was forgiveness in this?—our beliefs. All of us are imperfect humans; if you say to me that you're perfect I'm going to call you a liar.Abortions infanticide incest sexual violence and rape are issues happening right now in front of us in our homes and in our communities. It isn't just confined to Samoa Tonga or to the Pacific communities in Aotearoa. It isn't just confined to the nations of Pacific regions; it is an international issue.In 2013 the committee on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recommended that all States ensure access to safe abortion and post-abortion care services. The convention on the elimination of discrimination against women in 1999 clarified that access to healthcare including reproductive health is a basic right under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.So what's my message to my family? What's my message to the Samoan Pacific and faith communities on abortion? First teach our people the value of life. Teach them early and teach them often. Teach them in the home to value the life of the unborn child. We cannot bend the tree when the trunk is thick and sturdy; it will resist. My legal message is that I support the moving of abortion away from the criminal legal framework and transferring it under the health legal framework—SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member's time has expired."