THE ALRANZ BLOG
Our latest thoughts and opinions on abortion laws, law reform, trends and controversies; national and international..
Applying the Oakes Test to the Safe Areas Bill
by Terry Bellamak The Health Select Committee heard Crown Law’s submission on the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion (Safe Areas) Bill a week ago last Wednesday. To refresh your memory, Crown Law is the office that supplies the Attorney-General with section...
Celebrating 60 Years of the Pill in New Zealand – The Pink and Green Pills Arrive
by Dame Margaret Sparrow Setting the scene Looking back to 1961 it was a year of major international tension but also significant achievements. In January John F. Kennedy was sworn in as President of the United States. The cold war was omnipresent and worsened with...
Read about the history of oral contraception
Dame Margaret Sparrow tells the history of oral contraceptions's early days. Right here.
Expensive Arguments and Cheap Theatre
by Terry Bellamak Last week I spent some time in the High Court in Wellington, observing the judicial review proceeding of the NZ Health Professionals’ Alliance v the Attorney-General. The NZHPA is a group of medical practitioners who object to abortion. They are...
False Frames
by Terry Bellamak So, I’ve been commenting on an abortion related post on Facebook. I know, I know. It’s interesting how no matter what the original post is about, anti-abortion activists (calling them ‘antis’ from here on for brevity’s sake, no shade intended) always...
Flowers for Abortion Providers!
Once again, it’s almost time for the annual #40daysofharassment (AKA 40daysforlife). Safe areas did not make it into the abortion law reform legislation last year. So even though abortion is legal now, harassment of patients and providers continues. Abortion providers...
Dominoes + Gravity
by Terry Bellamak 2020 has seen some action on the reproductive rights front. Like decriminalisation: In March New Zealand decriminalised abortion and aligned it with other health care. Argentina just passed a law decriminalising abortion up to 14 weeks. It is widely...
Hopeful Times
by Terry Bellamak 2020 was not all bad. This was the year New Zealand joined the 21st century and decriminalised abortion, making it more accessible and treating it as a part of health care. People who find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy will find it...
Progressive is Normal for New Zealand
by Terry Bellamak This election was good news for supporters of reproductive rights. The results show that, unlike some places, New Zealand has no time for theocracy. Parliamentary supporters of the Abortion Legislation Act (ALA) were re-elected in droves....
Polish Authoritarians’ Miscalculation
by Terry Bellamak A little over a week ago, Poland’s governing party reaped the rewards of its shameless stacking of Poland’s highest court with its political adherents. That court, Poland’s constitutional tribunal, ruled that abortions for fatal fetal abnormality...