Media Release 2 May 2023
Right to Life believes that the ACT Party has forfeited its right to sit in our Parliament. There is no place in our Parliament for those who refuse to accept their duty to protect the right to lives of every member of the community especially the unborn who are the weakest and most defenceless members of our human family.
Act's Deputy Leader Brook van Velden has made statements challenging siting MP Simon O’Connor for the Tamaki electorate seat. Her challenge was primarily because of his support for the right to life of the unborn, his opposition to their killing up to birth and doctors being permitted to kill their patients or assist in their suicide.
It was Benjamin Franklin, the famous American statesman who stated, “The first and only duty of the state was to legislate for the health and happiness of the people and not to preside over their destruction.” The community should be grateful that we have an MP like Simon O’Connor, who believes that Parliament has no authority to usurp God’s authority to decide who shall live and who shall die and no right to give permission for doctors to kill their patients.
Brook van Velden has had the privilege of an elite Christian education at the prestigious St Cuthbert’s Presbyterian Girls College in Epsom Auckland and should be well aware that the Fifth Commandment of God “Thou shalt not kill” prohibits the killing of the unborn and the vulnerable.