{"id":208301,"date":"2019-08-10T09:11:41","date_gmt":"2019-08-10T14:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=208301"},"modified":"2019-08-10T11:11:16","modified_gmt":"2019-08-10T16:11:16","slug":"new-zealand-mps-against-proposed-abortion-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/new-zealand-mps-against-proposed-abortion-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Human rights are for all’: New Zealand MPs speak against proposed abortion bill"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This week, members of Parliament in New Zealand reacted against the proposed legislation<\/a> to legalize abortion and restrict pro-life speech. Under current law, abortion is legal in cases of incest, fetal abnormality, or when pregnancy poses a threat to the physical or mental health of the mother.<\/p>\n

According to Justice Minister Andrew Little, who introduced the bill<\/a>, around 13,200 abortions are committed in New Zealand under the current legislation each year. Little\u2019s proposal, which has the support of Prime Minister Jacinda Arden, would legalize elective abortion-on-demand through 20 weeks and allow for abortion up to birth<\/em> in certain circumstances.<\/p>\n

Speaking against the bill, MP Simon O\u2019Connor spoke in defense of the human rights of the preborn. \u201cHuman rights are for all\u2014they\u2019re for moms and they\u2019re for babies. And where rights start to occur for some and not for others, we no longer have human rights\u201d he said. \u201cThe sad irony of this debate is that those who proclaim their love of human rights are actively seeking to remove it from some.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor compared denying the human rights of the preborn to other injustices in history, saying, \u201cThe best chapters in our history have been when we recognized the innate dignity of others, but our worst have been when people with rights have decided that others should not have them.\u201d<\/p>\n