ALRANZ/The Prochoice Highway had a significant presence at the CTU conference held at Brentwood Hotel, Kilbirnie, after the original venue, Mercure Hotel had suffered damage in the earthquake on Sunday 21 July.
There were 8 other stall holders, with Margaret Sparrow staffing our stall, ably assisted over the two days by Esme and Annabel. We had a range of material, including an article (from the Labour History Project newsletter) about the battle over abortion and the (link to a PDF) Working Women’s Charter; our latest Newsletter, our “15 reasons to change the law” fact sheet, as well as postcards, badges and books by Margaret Sparrow (“Abortion Then and Now: New Zealand Abortion Stories From 1940 to 1980”) and Alison McCulloch (“Fighting to Choose: The Abortion Rights Struggle in New Zealand”). Alranz reps spoke with lots of delegates and were warmly welcomed by the conference organisers. A fair number of people who stopped by didn’t know abortion was still in the Crimes Act — changing that is an ALRANZ priority: Abortion should be treated as a health matter, not a crime.
Thanks to everyone who helped and who stopped by to talk with us, and to the conference organisers.
(Meanwhile, in Auckland, a good crowd gathered to hear Laila Harré launch Alison’s book.)
Margaret and Annabel with the ALRANZ/Prochoice Highway stall at the CTU Women’s Conference, Wellington, 26-27 July, 2013