Radhakrishnan PriyancaPRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker. It is a privilege to rise this evening and take a call because it's been an extremely long road getting to where we are this evening. I just want to begin by thanking all those who have fought for decades for abortion law reform and I want to specifically name those who have engaged with me in the last few years on this issue. I want to name the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand New Zealand Family Planning and Dame Margaret Sparrow for their work. I also want to thank people from our diverse ethnic communities who have come to me and spoken in support of this bill and I want to dispel the notion in this House that our diverse communities are a homogenous group that are conservative and would vote completely against this bill because that's not true. There are people who have various different views from our different communities and there are many who are in support of this bill as well and I thank them for speaking up to me. Can I also thank the Minister the Hon Andrew Little for his leadership on this issue which is not an easy one to lead on and not an easy piece of legislation to shepherd through the House. Also thanks to Ruth Dyson for her chairing of the Abortion Legislation Committee that I subbed on a few times and to all officials who worked on this bill. Now I just want to underscore the point that we're not here to debate the morality of abortion per se. We're not here to debate whether abortions should be allowed or not. Even if we were to pass in this House a bill with the strictest regulations to criminalise or to further outlaw abortions we wouldn't see a reduction in abortions. The evidence overwhelmingly tells us that if you want to see lower rates of abortion and fewer unwanted pregnancies you should actually look to countries that have worked to legalise abortions and vote for this bill. This bill when it's passed will decriminalise abortion. It will remove the need to lie to get an abortion that many women have felt over the years. It will also remove the delays that many women have faced in trying to access an abortion. Those who oppose this bill do so on grounds largely that are philosophical that are religious views—and they're entitled to them. However what we're trying to do here is make good legislation.We've also heard members who oppose this bill who have said that it will allow for abortion on demand that it will allow for abortion up to birth and this is actually untrue. Now the select committee has made an amendment to this bill and has brought in a post - 20 week legal process. I also just want to quickly touch on the issue of sex selection because it's been brought up in the House tonight. There is in the bill a requirement for the Director-General of Health to monitor birth rates to report on them and if there's any evidence of sex-selective abortions to recommend action that will prevent them. I also want to point out that the select committee has found that there's actually no evidence that it's happening or that it's potentially an issue here in New Zealand. So those of us who support this bill as well let me just make it clear: we don't support sex-selective abortions and that's very clear in this bill. I just want to use the time remaining to speak about safe access zones because I'm very disappointed that that's been taken out of this bill. It's a provision that I supported and I disagree with the member David Seymour who said it's about criminalising speech because it's not. Safe access zones prevent anti-abortion activists from targeting patients women staff and those who support people for example who might be within a specific radius of abortion clinics. What they do is they protect the privacy safety and dignity of women accessing abortion services. There is a view that it doesn't happen here in New Zealand—that there isn't intimidation that happens outside of abortion clinics. That's untrue. Some years back before the Invercargill clinic opened women in Invercargill had to travel to Dunedin or Christchurch to access abortions. When the clinic opened they were forced to do so in secrecy in order to protect the safety of their staff. That is unacceptable. The Auckland Medical Aid Centre—I've met with the general manager Lesley Wood who has been in this field for decades and who told me that she's been threatened she's been followed and she's been assaulted. That is not OK. Existing legislation doesn't cover the threat that people face from those who are standing outside the abortion clinic specifically to intimidate and stop a woman from choosing her own medical care. That's what safe zones stand against. Freedom of speech is not an absolute right. We already have the Harmful Digital Communications Act that outlaws causing serious emotional distress.This is a good bill. If you want to see fewer abortions in New Zealand one should vote for it. Thank you.