{"id":325740,"date":"2025-02-03T10:51:49","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T16:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=325740"},"modified":"2025-02-06T01:07:01","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T07:07:01","slug":"new-zealand-personhood-mountain-prenatal-human","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/new-zealand-personhood-mountain-prenatal-human\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand grants ‘personhood’ to a mountain… but not to prenatal human beings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The New Zealand Parliament has granted personhood to a mountain \u2014 just as it had previously granted<\/a> such status to a river and a piece of land. Meanwhile, an entire group of human beings in the nation is not afforded that same respect.<\/p>\n

Induced abortion \u2014 the direct and intentional act of killing a preborn child \u2014 is legal<\/a> for any reason through 20 weeks of pregnancy in New Zealand and does not have to be committed by a doctor or in a licensed facility. After 20 weeks, an abortion can still be carried out if a health practitioner believes the abortion is necessary after consultation with another health practitioner, including a midwife, nurse practitioner, or registered nurse. Human beings who are alive yet undelivered are not treated as legal persons in the country.<\/p>\n

However, Mount Taranaki, now to be known<\/a> as Taranaki Maunga, its M\u0101ori name, is considered an ancestor by Indigenous people and was recognized as a legal person on Thursday, following the enactment of a new law that granted the mountain all the rights of a human being. A newly created group of four members of the local M\u0101ori iwi, or tribes, in addition to four persons appointed by the country’s Conservation Minister, will serve as “the face and voice” of the mountain.<\/p>\n

READ: New Zealand implements \u2018safe areas\u2019 to silence pro-life activity near abortion facilities<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The mountain is \u201ca living and indivisible whole” and includes Taranaki Maunga and its surrounding areas, \u201cincorporating all their physical and metaphysical elements,\u201d according to law. The legal rights bestowed on it are meant to uphold its health and wellbeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mountain has long been an honored ancestor, a source of physical, cultural and spiritual sustenance and a final resting place,\u201d Paul Goldsmith, the lawmaker responsible for the settlements between the government and M\u0101ori tribes, told Parliament in a speech on Thursday.<\/p>\n

According to CNN, in 1840, M\u0101ori tribes signed a treaty with representatives of the British crown, which ensured M\u0101ori would keep their land and resources. But in 1865, some of that land, including the mountain, was taken by the British in response to a M\u0101ori rebellion against the Crown, pushing M\u0101ori out of having a say in the mountain.<\/p>\n

Now, giving the mountain “personhood” is said to be an acknowledgment of these past wrongs and an agreement to right those wrongs.<\/p>\n