Story: Abortion
Page 5 – Abortion: 1990s–2000s
In the 1990s the controversy of the 1970s and 1980s waned. Although the law was restrictive, in practice abortion was generally available. Pro-abortion activism wound down. Anti-abortion groups continued to protest, but to little effect.
However, in the 2000s anti-abortion activism increased. New groups were formed, the Abortion Supervisory Committee was challenged in court, and the internet became a base for activity.
Rate of abortion
The rate of abortion climbed through the 1990s and stabilised at around 0.6 per woman from 2002. In international terms, this was a moderate rate – less than the US and Canada, but more than England.
Availability in the 2000s
Access varied from one area of New Zealand to another. In some areas – Wellington and Auckland – women were able to have first-trimester (1–14 weeks) and second-trimester (15–28 weeks) abortions. In some parts of the country – the West Coast, Southland – services were limited to counselling and referral. In others, abortions were available in the first but not second trimester, or were only available in the second trimester on fetal abnormality grounds.
Abortion picket
Picketing outside abortion clinics continued. It was one reason Wellington’s Parkview Abortion Clinic moved into the main hospital in 2000. In 2009 women were warned that there might be protesters outside, but were assured that there was no way the protesters could know who was coming to the unit.
Availability of abortion increased with the 2002 introduction of the ‘abortion pill’, mifepristone (RU486). In 2009 the Hamilton branch of the Family Planning Association applied to the Abortion Supervisory Committee for a licence to provide it to women.
Anti-abortion groups
Groups formed in the 1970s continued to be active in the 2000s. In 2004 the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child (SPUC) changed its name to Voice for Life.
Other groups opposed to abortion were Family Life International (founded in 1992), Right to Life New Zealand (1999), Liberty for the Unborn and Pro-life New Zealand (formed in the early 2000s). Some groups had strong international connections and were concerned with a range of matters including euthanasia and in-vitro fertilisation.
Court challenges
From 2008 Right to Life New Zealand challenged the Abortion Supervisory Committee’s management of abortion in New Zealand in the courts. In 2011 the Court of Appeal ruled that the Abortion Supervisory Committee could not review certifying consultants' decisions (as Right to Life had argued it should), and that there was no foetal right to life.
Standard methods in the 2000s
The most common method of abortion in the first trimester was dilation and suction curettage. This method was also used for some second-trimester abortions, but medical abortions, using mifepristone and prostaglandin, were more common at this stage of pregnancy. In 2009, 92% abortions were carried out before the end of the 12th week of pregnancy, 6% between 13 and 16 weeks, and 2% over 17 weeks.
