Election 2023: How Parties Score on Issues of Reproductive Justice

by | 21 Sep, 2023 | Our Blog

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.

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

by | 20 Aug, 2023 | Our Blog

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?

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

by | 15 Jun, 2023 | Our Blog

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. 

A Basic Lack of Trust

A Basic Lack of Trust

by | 4 Jun, 2023 | Our Blog

by Terry Bellamak

Last week Newshub asked Christopher Luxon whether contraception would be fully funded if National gets elected and rolls back Labour’s elimination of the $5 fee for prescriptions. Caught off guard, his answer revealed just how little thought or planning went into this policy. He said he did not consider those needing contraception to have “high medical needs.”

Luxon had once again stumbled into telling on himself. You would think a former CEO would be well across the business case for contraception – it prevents more costly health service events, like abortions, pregnancies, and childbirths. Instead Luxon seemed to answer not from his business superego, but from his evangelical id. Fundamentalists oppose both abortion and contraception, as we see in the USA.

The electorate, ever watchful for signs of plans to roll back reproductive rights, reacted with outrage. They remembered certain salient facts the National party would rather they forget:

  • Luxon is on record agreeing that abortion is ‘tantamount to murder’
  • Luxon has promised not to repeal the Abortion Legislation Act 2020, nor reduce funding for abortions BUT
  • The religious right has strong form for lying about reproductive rights when it suits their agenda. 
    • Supreme court justices in the US lied about abortion in their Senate confirmation hearings, leading to the overturning of Roe v Wade. 
    • Anti-abortion extremists in the USA and New Zealand still tell lies about abortion negatively affecting patients’ mental health, years after the Turnaway study proved otherwise. 
  • National MP Simon O’Connor, who ended his speech at the Abortion Legislation Act’s third reading with the ominous ‘Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord’ in Latin, posted ‘Today is a good day’ when Roe was overturned. It took Luxon three tries to distance himself from O’Connor’s remarks and calm the waters.
  • In the past week National’s fundie caucus has been throwing its weight around, with Simeon Brown complaining about bilingual road signage, and O’Connor dog-whistling his opposition to same-sex marriage. Luxon is unable, or chooses not, to control them.
  • Also this week the National party showed form for reneging on good faith agreements, as shown by their surprise repudiation of the Medium Density Residential Standards agreement with the government.

And now here we have Luxon stating his belief that contraception is not important enough for National to cover people who need it. Bad look. No wonder people find it hard to credit his promises around protecting abortion rights.

Labour uncharacteristically took advantage of Luxon’s mistake. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins referred to the National party taking New Zealand back to the 1950s. Megan Woods tweeted a meme from the Handmaid’s Tale.

You can tell how much Woods’s jibe hit home by the pearl-clutching that ensued. The mildest hyperbole was condemned as dirty politics. 

Newshub seemed a bit shocked and dismayed that their gotcha question had landed so hard. The walkback started immediately as political journalists echoed the National party’s outrage, grabbing for their own pearls.

Some have criticised Labour for not eliminating the prescription fee six years ago. Why is this silly time-travel argument used so much? Making the announcement about free prescriptions changed the conversation. From that moment ‘everybody pays’ was off the table. In its place was ‘nobody pays’ and ‘some must pay.’ 

Who must pay for what involves a values-based discussion about what care the health service should fully fund. National should have known better than to turn the discussion to values when its loud and proud fundie caucus is so out of step with the New Zealand public. Aotearoa has a resolutely secular society that does not trust extreme religious politicians. 

That’s why Woods’s meme hit home. 

Given the importance of the rights at stake, i.e. bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom, who could blame New Zealanders for being super cautious about a party chock full of people who oppose their fundamental rights, including the leader? This is not the National party of Hon Amy Adams and Hon Nikki Kaye.

We have seen the speed with which the health care system in conservative US states has deteriorated into a shit show. People are being criminalised for making decisions about their own bodies in the privacy of their own homes. People with failing pregnancies are being forced to wait until they are at death’s door before doctors will treat them. The USA’s Savita Halappanavar may be only weeks away. 

If we elect a National government that breaks its promises and curtails reproductive rights, it will be too late for us. Given the grave nature of the risk, we have every right to be worried about National and their real intentions.

 

National Party’s new conscience not representative of Aotearoa’s values

by | 30 Nov, 2021 | Media Release

ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa notes the appointment of Christopher Luxon as new leader for the National Party, and Nicola Willis as deputy leader.

ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa spokesperson Dr Tracy Morison said “Christopher Luxon’s well-publicised anti-abortion views are not representative of the values of mainstream New Zealanders, who overwhelmingly supported reform”.

Dr Tracy Morison, interim President of ALRANZ

Luxon said on Checkpoint following his appointment that his pro-life stance is not “a big issue” because abortion was decriminalized last year, and his deputy Nicola Willis is pro-choice.

Tracy Morison notes that “most people seeking abortion care in Aotearoa would disagree strongly with Christopher on this point”. Luxon’s refusal to answer whether he thought abortion was murder indicates he understands he is out of step with most New Zealanders.

ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa wish Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis well, but intend to monitor the extent that views such as his may have on the provision of safe and equitable abortion care in Aotearoa, particularly when considering the upcoming vote on the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion (Safe Areas) Amendment Bill.