Hopeful Times

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...

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Progressive is Normal for New Zealand

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...

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Polish Authoritarians’ Miscalculation

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...

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Understanding Family First New Zealand v Attorney-General

Understanding Family First New Zealand v Attorney-General

by Ella Shepherd Since 2013, Family First New Zealand (one of the most prominent anti-choice lobby groups in the country) has been battling its deregisteration and loss of charity status with the Charities Board. On Thursday the Court of Appeal...

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Who is Practicing Medicine?

Who is Practicing Medicine?

by Terry Bellamak National MP Harete Hipango spent last week peddling the myth that because we reformed our abortion laws, people will get abortions right up until birth. It follows that she does not trust health practitioners or pregnant people. ...

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The Reprieve

The Reprieve

by Terry Bellamak The United States Supreme Court has struck down Louisiana’s law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at local hospitals – a requirement made both unnecessary and impossible to fulfil by the very safety of...

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Tribute to De Rex Hunton MBE

Tribute to De Rex Hunton MBE

by Dame Margaret Sparrow I first met Rex soon after the opening of the Auckland Medical Aid Centre in May 1974. It was a great relief to those of us who were having to refer women to Australia at that time and I wanted to see for myself to where I...

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The Legacy of Norma McCorvey

The Legacy of Norma McCorvey

by Terry Bellamak Norma McCorvey was ‘Jane Roe’, the plaintiff in Roe v Wade – the landmark US Supreme Court case that recognised Americans’ constitutional right to choose to receive abortion care.  In the 1990s abortion opponents hailed McCorvey’s...

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The Ripple Effect

The Ripple Effect

by Terry Bellamak  Last week, supporters of reproductive rights in Aotearoa had an historic victory. Parliament voted to reform our abortion legislation to recognise a pregnant people’s right to bodily autonomy up to 20 weeks, and to streamline...

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Anti-abortion Scaremongering: Reproductive Coercion

Anti-abortion Scaremongering: Reproductive Coercion

by Terry Bellamak Reproductive coercion is what happens when someone overcomes another person’s reproductive decisions through intimidation or force. It can take many forms, like forcing someone to become or remain pregnant, forcing them to seek...

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