Cantabrians March to Defend Right to Life

Media Release 16 September 2023

Right to Life commends the estimated 500 women, men and children who peacefully and joyfully marched from Victoria Square in Christchurch today, Saturday 16th September, to express their support for a culture of life with love for mothers and their precious unborn. They marched to support legislation which will give legal recognition to the unborn child as a human being from conception and endowed by our Creator with an inalienable right to life, and to express opposition to a culture of death that threatens the lives of our unborn children and the welfare of women the second victim of the violence of abortion.

They marched to remember the more than 560,000 innocent and defenseless New Zealand unborn children who have been killed since 1978 by being poisoned, sucked out of their mother’s womb or being violently and painfully dismembered. This culture of death also threatens the vulnerable in our community with euthanasia.

The marchers gave witness to our community to the sanctity of life of every human being from conception to natural death. They also gave a strong message to Parliament and our government that we reject the Abortion Legislation Act 2020, which rejects the humanity of the unborn child and its right to life until it is born.

We will not rest until it is repealed. The marchers also reject the End of Life Choice Act 2019, which permits doctors to kill their patients with a lethal injection or assist in their suicide. Voters were also encouraged to vote in the general election in 2023, only for candidates who are committed to protecting life.

May our Parliament be attentive to the message we respectfully present, that we are absolutely opposed to the culture of death that our former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has inflicted on our country by removing abortion from the Crimes Act, making it no longer a crime to kill an unborn child and in her words making it “a reproductive choice for women.” She had also been a strong advocate for the End of Life Choice Act which would empower doctors to give a lethal injection to their patients or to assist in their suicide.

Dame Jacinda Ardern, facing falling polls, quickly departed Parliament, however her promotion of a culture of death is fully supported by the current Prime Minister, Christopher Hipkins.

The march began at Victoria Square, processed to Cashel Mall and then back to Victoria Square via Cathedral Square, where they were addressed by Pro-Life and Pro- family advocates, who spoke passionately about the need to continue to speak out against the government’s war on women and unborn children.

All those who marched want New Zealand to be a nation where the beauty and dignity of every human life is valued and protected from conception to natural death.

Ken Orr,

Spokesperson,

Right to Life