Government violates conscience of health professionals!

Media Release 1 November 2025

Right to Life is opposed to the government’s continued blatant and intolerable violation of the conscience rights of health professionals.

Parliament has provided limited legal protection for the conscience rights of health professionals. Legislation allows for a health professional to refuse to participate in the killing by abortion of an unborn child or the euthanising of a vulnerable patient. However, the legislation requires that if the health professional refuses on conscience grounds to perform the killing of the child or patient, they have a legal duty to ensure that they provide information identifying a health professional who is prepared to facilitate the killing.

Right to Life believes that this is an intolerable violation of human rights and religious freedom.

Our Creator has endowed every human being with a conscience. We have a duty to follow our fully informed conscience to choose to do good and to avoid evil.

A fully informed conscience informs us that God, the author of life has commanded us in His fifth commandment “not to kill”, this includes referring a woman to a health professional who is prepared to kill her baby or referring a patient to another health professional who is prepared to kill the patient or assist in their suicide.

New Zealand needs health professionals who are dedicated to practicing medicine by upholding the fifth Commandment of God and following their informed conscience.

Our Parliament has brazenly defied the will of God by passing the Abortion Legislation Act 2020, which effectively permits the killing of unborn children up to birth, In 2019 Parliament again defied God by passing the End of Life Choice Act, which permits doctors to kill eligible vulnerable patients with a lethal injection or assist in their suicide.

In 2021, the New Zealand Health Professional Alliance, a group of pro-life doctors brought an appeal to the High Court, challenging legislation requiring health professionals who refused on conscience grounds to cooperate in facilitating the killing of the unborn by abortion. Justice Rebecca Ellis in her judgment dismissed the appeal and upheld the legislation, she described the requirement as a "minimal and remote act" that did not amount to "taking part" in the abortion process or even a formal referral.

She held that the rights of women to access lawful and safe abortion services, which she considered "fundamental rights" supported by international instruments, were paramount. Right to Life disagrees with the judgment. Women do not have a “fundamental” right to kill their children before they are born. Abortion is not a health service, it is not “safe” for either the child that is poisoned, sucked out of its mother’s womb or violently dismembered, or for the mother who is grievously wounded.

Doctors who refuse to facilitate an abortion or euthanasia may be subject of a complaint of professional misconduct to the Health and Disability Commissioner, they may also be referred to the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. In the event that a charge is found proven, the Tribunal may censure, fine, suspend, or cancel their professional registration. There is no record of the tribunal in New Zealand dealing with such a complaint.

Right to Life is committed to campaigning for the law to be changed to provide complete legal protection to health professionals to follow their conscience to uphold the Fifth Commandment of God, “Thou shalt not kill”.

Ken Orr,

Spokesperson,

Right to Life New Zealand Inc.