THE ALRANZ BLOG
Our latest thoughts and opinions on abortion laws, law reform, trends and controversies; national and international..
Safe areas and the intersection between the anti-abortion and anti-vax movements
By Ella Shepherd On Tuesday, Kieran McAnulty (MP for the Wairarapa) shared his story about encounters with the anti-vax movement of Aotearoa. While speaking to his Wairarapa electorate, Kieran described being verbally assaulted and receiving numerous death threats,...
ALRANZ President Stepping Down
It is with equal amounts of bittersweet nostalgia and bracing anticipation that I announce I am stepping down from the ALRANZ presidency. It has been an honour and a privilege to lead this organisation through the years in which our long-held purpose came to fruition....
Select Committee Report on the Safe Areas Bill
The Health Select Committee has reported back on the Safe Areas Bill. The result is a mixed bag. The Committee has made changes to how the actions prohibited in safe areas are defined, but did not change the requirement for bespoke safe areas, approved and created one...
Why You Should Share Your Story
Information is power, and our stories are some of the most powerful tools we have in the fight for equitable access to reproductive health care. We’ve launched a new page, ‘Hold Them to Account.’ It’s a form where you can tell us about any dodgy or upsetting...
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...