Election 2023: How Parties Score on Issues of Reproductive Justice

On 14 October 2023, Aotearoa New Zealand will go to the polls to vote on who they want to represent them in Parliament.  ALRANZ has been consistent that reproductive rights are on the ballot this election.  From implementing safe areas, to funding contraception, to the general global rollback of women’s rights, voters should be confident they are voting for a party that can be trusted with these important issues.  ALRANZ has gathered data on five different metrics for these scorecards from publicly available sources in order to make an assessment on which parties will be good for reproductive rights, and which parties will stagnate (or even reverse) progress.

First, Act (well, David Seymour) voted in favour of abortion law reform in 2020 and has been a long-standing proponent of the idea the state should not interfere in private medical decisions.  While ultimately voting yes to safe areas in 2022, David Seymour was the reason the provision was removed from law reform in 2020.  Furthermore, both David Seymour and Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden have made public comments expressing concerns about safe areas and freedom of speech.  (You can read ALRANZ’s position on those concerns here.)  ALRANZ is therefore unconvinced ACT would actually implement safe areas if they got into power.  There is no mention of anything related to women’s health, rights, or reproductive justice in the rest of ACT’s material for this election.

The Green Party have been consistent and dedicated allies to the reproductive justice movement.  The entire caucus voted in favour of both law reform and safe areas.  The caucus has also been outspoken on issues of reproductive justice globally, issuing statements on things like the overturn of Roe v Wade in the United States.  While not specifically mentioning future issues to do with reproductive rights, the Green Party manifesto mentions involvement in 0800 DECIDE, and notes the Green Party wants to finalise and resource the women’s health strategy.  The women’s health strategy includes issues of access to contraception.  ALRANZ is confident on the Green Party’s commitment to reproductive justice.

80 per cent of the Labour Party caucus voted in favour of abortion law reform in 2020.  The top 5 on Labour’s current list (Chris Hipkins, Kelvin Davis, Carmel Sepuloni, Grant Roberston and Megan Woods) all voted in favour.   95 per cent of the Labour caucus voted in favour of safe areas, all MPs in the top 20 on Labour’s current list.  This commitment on paper has become a reality:  11 providers have had safe areas implemented under a Labour-led government and Labour introduced the 0800 DECIDE helpline.  The information about Labour’s position on issues of reproductive justice are easy to find in their “women’s health manifesto”, which shows these issues are a priority for them.  Labour have comprehensive policies on maternal health, birth injuries, cervical cancer, breast cancer, endometriosis treatment, funding period products in school, removing prescription fees for access to contraception and increasing Pharmac funding to explore birth control options.

The National Party have a chequered history with reproductive rights.  Just 35 per cent of caucus voted in favour of law reform in 2020.  In the National Party’s current list, number 4 and 5 (Shane Reti and Paul Goldsmith) both voted no.  While all of the top 5 (along with 73 per cent of the caucus) voted yes to safe areas in 2022, ALRANZ is sceptical of National’s willingness to preserve or implement safe areas given Reti and Goldsmith would be the Ministers of Health and Justice (respectively) under a National-led government.  National do not have a general women’s health policy, but have committed to expanding free breast cancer screenings.  National wish to re-introduce prescription fees for contraceptive drugs, although Deputy Leader Nicola Willis did hint National were “looking into” long acting reversal contraceptives (LARCs).  ALRANZ is concerned about a National led government in large part due to the anti-choice beliefs of leader Christopher Luxon.  This is reflected in his caucus: 50 per cent of National’s top 20 got a downwards vote from ALRANZ in our previous scorecard.

New Zealand First were the only party to get a score in the negative numbers, in large part due to their complete silence on all issues of women’s rights and reproductive justice.  Publicly, what we know is that just 22 per cent of the New Zealand First caucus (two MPs) voted for law reform in 2020.  Winston Peters, Shane Jones and Mark Patterson all voted no (numbers 1, 2 and 5 on the New Zealand First list).  Both Te Pāti Māori MPs voted yes on safe areas in 2022, but otherwise have shown little public engagement with issues of reproductive rights.  Some of this may be due to the health policy on their website being a dead link.  Finally, TOP’s website contained easy-to-find policies, including one on fully funding contraception (including LARCs), fully funding antenatal ultrasounds and prioritising women’s health.  Despite not being in Parliament during law reform or safe areas, TOP have been dedicated and consistent advocates of reproductive justice (and great friends to ALRANZ).

While who to vote for is a choice for each individual voter, ALRANZ implores everyone to decide what level of risk you comfortable with this election.  Because we only need to look overseas to see the devastating effects electing people who are not pro-choice can have.

If you believe any information on this scorecard is not an accurate reflection of a party’s policy or position, please contact ALRANZ here.  Please include in your message a reference to publicly available information that contradicts what ALRANZ has said.

ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa Welcomes First Day With Implemented Safe Areas

ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa is excited for the first day with safe areas outside abortion providers across Aotearoa New Zealand.  From today, the six providers which provide the bulk of abortions in Aotearoa will have a protected zone of 150 metres outside their clinics.

This means patients and providers at two clinics in Auckland, and one each in Wellington, Greymouth, Christchurch and Dunedin will be protected from harassment by anti-choice protestors.

ALRANZ President Ella Shepherd said “the long-awaited implementation of safe areas recognises people deserve dignity and privacy when accessing and providing abortion services.”  These are the first safe areas since the Safe Areas Amendment Bill passed its third reading in March 2022.  ALRANZ remains hopeful the process will continue to be refined and expedited during the ongoing second and third round of applications. 

However, Shepherd remains concerned a National-led government would stifle this progress on abortion access.  “Eleven of the top 20 candidates in the National Party list voted no on either law reform or safe areas, or in the case of Christopher Luxon, have made their anti-choice views publicly clear.  Progress on issues of reproductive justice such as access to abortion are definitely on the ballot this election.”

Safe areas can only be created by the Governor-General, by Order in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Health, in consultation with the Minister of Justice.  Dr Shani Reti and Paul Goldsmith (who respectively hold the Health and Justice portfolios in the National Party) both voted no to abortion law reform in 2020.

How the National Party’s 2023 List Stacks Up On Abortion Rights

The National Party released its list for the 2023 election this weekend.  ALRANZ has looked at how these candidates voted on law reform in 2020, safe areas in 2021, and their public comments on abortion to determine whether they support abortion rights or not.  Does this look like a party you would trust to advance reproductive rights in Aotearoa New Zealand?

ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa Applauds the Implementation of Six Safe Areas Protecting Abortion Providers in Aotearoa

ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa welcomes the long-awaited implementation of safe areas around six abortion providers in Aotearoa New Zealand.  Safe areas will go a long way to protecting those accessing or providing abortion services from harassment within 150 metres of a clinic.  ALRANZ thanks the Labour government for putting in the hard work and getting some safe areas over the finish line. 

The safe areas protect two providers in Auckland, and one each in Wellington, Greymouth, Christchurch and Dunedin.  The safe areas implemented will protect the most consistently harassed locations, the ones that provide the bulk of abortions in Aotearoa.

ALRANZ President Ella Shepherd said “the implementation of safe areas goes a long way to full recognition of the fact abortion is healthcare and not a crime, and people deserve dignity and privacy when accessing abortion services.” 

This commitment from the Labour Party stands in stark contrast to many in the opposition party.  ALRANZ remains concerned that many in the National Party caucus hold anti-choice views.  The implementation of safe areas demonstrates it is not merely a matter of law reform, but rather actions of the executive, that truly protects abortion access.  Christopher Luxon is yet to provide adequate assurances that progress on abortion rights is possible under a National-led government.

While this is a sign of significant progress for abortion rights in Aotearoa, the implementation of safe areas has been a slow process.  These are the first safe areas since the Safe Areas Amendment Bill passed its third reading in March 2022.  ALRANZ remains hopeful the process will continue to be refined and expedited during the ongoing second round of applications, and the third round of applications (opening 7 August 2023) will not be as slow.

Luxon “won’t change” Aotearoa’s abortion laws, but he likely won’t enforce them either

Luxon “won’t change” Aotearoa’s abortion laws, but he likely won’t enforce them either

Image from Simeon Brown on Facebook. National Party leader Christopher Luxon (R) and MP for Pakuranga Simeon Brown (L) are both anti-choice.

By Alma De Anda, Abortion Rights Aotearoa Co-Treasurer

On 18 March 2022, a law was passed in Aotearoa to allow for the creation of ‘safe areas’ around abortion service providers to protect staff and patients from intimidation from anti-choice protestors.  (This is following the removal of safe areas from the initial Bill decriminalising abortion in 2020, thanks to the ACT party.)  Yet, as I type this, there have been NO safe areas established around any abortion provider in the entire country due to the unnecessarily arduous process to implement one.  Former ALRANZ (Abortion Rights Aotearoa) President Terry Bellamak wrote about this in March.  Three months later and there is still no progress.

The safe areas amendment passed because the government acknowledged abortion care is healthcare and should be treated as such.  Despite this approach, implementing safe areas has proved to be an arduous process.  This means anti-choice, anti-abortion extremists can still get together to harass anyone (patients or staff) entering or exiting abortion care facilities.  We use the word ‘extremists’ in this context because it is extreme and dangerous to believe that a government or any one person has a right to force someone to stay pregnant against their will. 

ALRANZ receives messages from concerned citizens wondering why people are still harassing abortion seekers and abortion providers if it’s unlawful.  We must reply and explain the tedious and ridiculously long process that leaves providers and patients exposed to violence and harassment each day after an abortion provider’s application is received.  A hopeful time estimate for the completion of the process is at least six to nine months.

If this glacial progress is what we have under a pro-choice government, one wonders what it would be like under one lacking the political will to implement abortion law reform.  If a National or a National/ACT government win the next election, we could see the advancement of abortion access and abortion equity across Aotearoa die from purposeful procedural stagnation. 

Abortion rights do not exist in a silo, and ALRANZ knows people have a wide range of beliefs about God and religion.  ALRANZ has no issue with religious freedom, what we are concerned with is the Christian nationalism seeping its way into politics in Aotearoa.  We know several key members of the National Party are actively and vocally opposed to abortion rights, as well as other human rights related to sexuality, race, and gender. 

Party leader and MP for Botany Christopher Luxon is anti-choice and believes abortion is tantamount to murder.  That implicitly means Luxon believes that one in four women in Aotearoa are murderers.  Similarly, Tāmaki MP Simon O’Connor was overjoyed at the overturning of Roe v Wade, which ended the constitutional protection for abortion in the United States.  O’Connor is also a fan of appearing on podcasts and YouTube channels to talk about the “annoying” topics of race and gender.  (I won’t link to those, but if you want to look for them yourselves, you will find them.  I do not recommend it though.)  MP for Pakuranga Simeon Brown was “holding back tears” at the thought of abortion law reform and, as demonstrated when he voted “no” alongside seven of his National colleagues at the third reading of the Bill banning conversion therapy, thinks it is OK to tell LGBTQIA+ youth that his God does not approve of their ‘lifestyle’.  Likewise, Northland-based MP Dr Shane Reti has personal views in direct conflict with abortion and LGBTQIA+ rights allegedly because of his Catholic faith.  Reti would become the Minister for Health under a National government.  How would he, or any of these other high-profile National MPs, advance or even conserve abortion rights in Aotearoa?

The short answer: they won’t.  The National Party might not undo abortion law reform like what is happening in the United States.  However, as the safe areas stagnation demonstrates the government does not have to introduce specific legislation to stifle abortion access.  All they have to do is drag their feet on any aspect around abortion service delivery and they can still say, “See, we did not touch abortion law reform.”

And they would be correct, but they would not do what 74 per cent of New Zealanders want regarding abortion – to properly implement choice for all.