Are babies born alive in abortions in New Zealand?

Media Release 29 April 2023

Confidential Information has been divulged to Right to Life that babies in late term medical abortions are being born alive in New Zealand and being denied appropriate care. This is a crime against humanity.

A baby born alive from a medical abortion would be a rare event as the government expects doctors to kill the baby at 22 weeks gestation with a lethal injection to the heart prior to the abortion to ensure that it was born dead.

In 2021 there were 102 abortions at 21 weeks plus gestation reported in New Zealand. Right to Life believes that this statistic is under reported.

A recent study by the Irish government revealed that babies were being born alive in medical abortions and were being denied care and were being left alone to die.

Right to Life believes that the New Zealand government should follow the example of the Irish government and conduct a similar investigation into the care of aborted babies born alive in New Zealand.

Right to Life believes that the Hipkins’ led government would not support this enquiry as it should be noted that in 2020, fifty-two members of the Labour government voted against amending the extremist Abortion Legislation Act to require that babies born alive in an abortion be provided with appropriate care.

Right to Life believes that the government wishes to uphold a veil of secrecy over the performance of late term abortions in New Zealand.

The only criteria for a late term abortion is that the abortion is considered clinically “appropriate”. There is no legal requirement to consider the humanity of the unborn child and its right to life as our Crimes Act upholds the fiction that the child does not become a human being with a right to life until it is born.

Right to Life has been advised by the Ministry of Health in response to Official Information Act requests that:-

• There is no information on the number of babies born alive from abortions in New Zealand, as this information is not required.

• That the Ministry has no information on the reasons why late term abortions are performed. The reasons why they are done is a confidential matter between the woman and the doctor. There is no oversight and the doctor’s judgment is not to be challenged. The government promotes kindness and inclusiveness yet discriminates against our precious unborn who are unwanted and their killing authorised and funded as being “appropriate.”

Right to Life believes that the government is determined to keep the reasons secret. It is believed that the majority of late term abortions are for alleged fetal abnormalities such as Down syndrome and spina bifida. Right to Life believes that the government seeks to eliminate Down syndrome by eliminating babies who have Down syndrome with its search and destroy screening programme.

• The Ministry also has no information on the number of women who change their mind and choose life for their unborn child.

• Nor does the Ministry have any information on the number of women who seek an abortion and are refused by the abortionist.

• An abortionist is legally required to consult with another medical practitioner on the “appropriateness” of an abortion but is not required to take any notice of the opinion if the second doctor disagrees; this information is also not collected by the Ministry.

• In the rare event that an abortionist refuses to perform the abortion, the woman has the right to consult other doctors until she finds a doctor who is prepared to kill her unborn child.

The Abortion Supervisory Committee in its annual reports to Parliament from 1978 to 2020 confirmed that we had abortion on demand with 98% of requests for abortion being approved.

Right to Life is committed to the repeal of the Abortion Legislation Act and to the passing of legislation that recognises the unborn child as a human being endowed by its Creator with an inalienable right to life.

Ken Orr,

Spokesperson,

Right to Life New Zealand Inc.