Wednesday, 2 May 2012

Abortion in New Zealand

 My brief two is about legal abortion in New Zealand. In this blog i will explore the legal and controversial side of abortions with links to legal information and people,articles that are against abortion. I will attempt to explore stories and reasons for abortion in New Zealand and discuss some issues around the world about legal and illegal abortions.

Abortion in New Zealand is legal. An abortion can be performed any time during pregnancy in a licensed clinic around New Zealand. There are different clinics which can provide abortions for women over and under 12 weeks gestation. The law for abortion can be found under Contraception, sterilisation and abortion act. 1977 and grounds or reasons for legal abortion can be found under the Crimes Act 1961.

The abortion rate in New Zealand has dropped in recent years, at the end of December 2009 the rate had decreased by 19.2% (abortions per 1000 women aged 15-44) and a further more 18.1% in 2010. This is the lowest percentage in abortions in New Zealand since 1999.

ALRANZ



There is a huge controversy around abortion in New Zealand. Quoted from ALRANZ "ALRANZ firmly believes that a woman should decide whether or not to continue her pregnancy, not parliamentarians with a conscience vote and not state-funded doctors. With respect to informed consent they do not conform to The Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights. (par.10)" from my knowledge an abortion in New Zealand is 100% womens choice and right. If a doctor were to suggest an abortion due to complications which would affect  the child or mother than that would be suggested and not forced upon the mother. ALRANZ is not a anti-abortion group but stands for Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand, which means there are some flaws within the already passed act that needs some twitching around with.

ALRANZ also believes that the abortion should not be treated as a criminal issue but a health issue. I believe in this point which was stated in an article by MASSIVE (voice of Massey University). There are many reasons for getting an abortion, the law states that in New Zealand an abortion can be carried out by health professionals if the pregnancy were to in danger either the physical or mental health of the mother, or if there were any health issues with the fetus. In this case I focus on the health and well-being of the mother.

Consequences of an abortion

With an abortion comes the obvious mental health issues of losing a child due to your choice or due to severe health issues which prevented you from carrying out a pregnancy to full term. In the U.S there were a few studies conducted to see into the effects and consequences of having an abortion. 10% of women who had mental health problems were those who have had an abortion. With an abortion comes the mental issue of dealing with the effects of allowing the termination of your unborn child. There is also a growing number of women and girls turning to drug abuse and suicide after the procedure but tests on these are inconclusive.

A major health issue with abortions is pre-term birth. Pre-term is the birth of your child before 37 weeks. Women who have had an abortion have a 64% of pre-term birth. The percentage rises for those who had more than one termination.


The cost of an abortion

The cost of an abortion in a clinic in New Zealand ranges between $1000 and $1300. If you are a New Zealand resident these fees are wavered and are government funded. Some may argue that all this money spent on paying for women to get free abortions is unnecessary and the money should be spent on other more important things. Important things such as child benefits for mothers who have multiples kids and sit home and live on government grants. Im not saying that it is wrong to do both but there is an even scale here, if a young teen were to become pregnant and had neither the supplies or support to raise a child, she would have a choice of a free abortion or keep her child and go onto a benefit to help her and her child. There are good support systems where the teen could continue to attend high school and have free daycare for her child. She would get financial help and if needed housing for her and her child. So what would you rather have your tax money spent on? supporting those who are unable (or lazy in some case) to provide for their child/ren or would you mind your money going towards helping a women or girl have an abortion procedure?



Conclusion

Abortion is a very upsetting topic. People are welcome to their own opinions on abortions. I personally believe that abortion is a women's right to her body. Everybody is entitled to make their own decisions in life, unfortunately for some they are left with a huge dilemma whether to abort or carry out the pregnancy. 

If abortions in New Zealand were illegal what sorts of health issues would that produce for women who have been raped and forced to carry out full term with the child of their rapist. Yes, there are other options besides abortion such as adoption. It's a sad and cruel world where there are loving couples who fail to produce a child of there own, so why are there let's say 'careless' people out there getting pregnant as easy as 1,2,3 just to abort their child. There are thousands of children in the world who go with out parents, food, a good home and love. What are there chances of adoption? A child that has already been born into the world but has to suffer. Why aren't they being adopted apposed to those who are only 6 weeks gestation and the mother is considering an abortion. Im not saying any life is less important than another, but just a little something to think about.

Sometimes abortion is not the choice of the mother but the peer pressure from, family, friends or in most cases the father of the child. This would not be easy for a women to be denied the choice of her pregnancy. So for these cases do these women really need the disapproval of those who argue that abortion is selfish and that there are option for you to consider. So the next time you hear about abortions, stop and think about the many possible reasons that person may have carried out that procedure. Mental health issues, peer-pressure, physical health issues, rape or incest are those which should be considered as they are the grounds in which an abortion in New Zealand can be performed. Abortions are not forced upon anyone and is the choice of the mother and her body, don't judge a book by it's cover. Everybody has a story to tell.

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