SpeechDr GAURAV SHARMA (Labour—Hamilton West) (remote): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. Tēnā koe e te Whare. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak on the Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion (Safe Areas) Amendment Bill. I've been meaning to speak in the previous readings but have not been able to due to other parliamentary commitments but also because of the interest that other members have shown it has been hard to get a successful call.I first of all would like to thank Louisa Wall for taking up this important cause and addressing the current gap in legislation. While I was hearing Mr David Seymour speak today I had to look out my window and just see if the sun had risen from the east and was actually setting in the west because it's not often that I agree with the comments he makes but it's interesting to be on the same side of history and to be supporting this very important legislation.I know many members today have spoken for and against this bill based on personal experiences. I want to add to this discussion based on my own experiences as a medical professional. I know one of the speakers recently talked about pseudo-academics who were involved in this bill so I wanted to give some real-life experiences from the ground.I want to start first of all by saying that in my time as a GP I have never met a person who has not taken the decision to have an abortion seriously. Every single patient I have seen who has wanted to access an abortion has not only spent a lot of time considering the decision but has also had support both psychologically through the clinic and also after long discussions often with their own families.What this bill is about is providing a safe area that can be no more than 150 metres from any part of a protected facility. These safe areas are designated spaces around premises where abortions are provided where it will now become unlawful to intimidate obstruct or interfere with people who are there to receive abortion care or provide it.This isn't just about providing protection for our wāhine but it's also for our medical professionals. Many times on my own way to work in the hospital ward and not in the abortion clinic but a medical or often a surgical ward I had protestors harassing myself and other staff members as we just went about our normal day entering or leaving work. I want to again reiterate that these are staff members who are not working at the abortion clinic; they were just working in other parts of the hospital and they still got harassed. Many got harassed not only at the hospital while they were coming in or going out but also online similar to the women who are trying to access these services—getting harassed not only at the spot but again online.It is important that the patients have the right to access healthcare with their privacy intact and without coercion. When the bill came to the Health Committee one of the concerns was around the right to the freedom of expression and a lot of members today have talked about it and raised it. As a member of the Health Committee I can assure you that the committee worked really hard to make sure that the rights to freedom and the rights of patients were balanced. This is why clause 5 inserts new section 13A which removed the definitions of prohibited behaviour" and "protected person" and specifically [Audio cut] the types of behaviour that would be prohibited in a safe area. In addition to this there was a provision made that if the patient gave their consent that a person could carry out any of these specific prohibited activities while the patient was there it was OK.We also heard from people who talked about praying for patients while they are accessing these abortion services. A lot of these people were actually very well meaning. I definitely agree with the power of prayer but I say to these people that you don't need to be 150 metres away from the hospital to pray for someone; you can sit at home and still pray for someone and their wellbeing.Finally I want to say to those who are worried about the right to freedom that the decision to make regulations creating a safe area would be made on the recommendation of the Ministry of Health in consultation with the Minister of Justice. The specific size and exact location of the area would be determined on a case by case basis as appropriate for that individual facility. So what this does then is that the bill has a provision to make sure that our medical professionals can go to work without having to be harassed; that our wāhine can actually access healthcare in a dignified manner while having their privacy protected like any other medical procedure all the while making sure that the right to freedom of expression is minimally if at all limited.So with that I want to commend Louisa Wall for bringing this very important bill to the House and I would like to highly recommend it to the House."