Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand
[1] The campaigns of these anti-abortion rights groups provoked a strong reaction, with some questioning the veracity of their claims about the medical consequences of abortion and the experiences of overseas countries with liberal laws.
The organisation continues to lobby for the following legal changes: In so doing, ALRANZ wants to see abortion laws that no longer breach the fundamental human rights of those seeking to terminate a pregnancy.
The clinic offended the authorities and sparked a series of police actions, court cases and moves in Parliament to rein in abortion access.
These in turn prompted the Labour Government to announce the establishment of a Royal Commission on Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion to examine New Zealand's laws.
[14] In November 1975, Dr Margaret Sparrow made a submission to the commission on behalf of ALRANZ, and came under sustained personal attack from lawyers from SPUC (Society for the Protection of Unborn Children), who were permitted to question her.
However, during that time, health boards began providing abortion services, including opening clinics in Wellington (Parkview, 1980) and Christchurch (Lyndhurst, 1986).
A small cadre of committed members in Wellington, including Dame Margaret Sparrow kept the organisation alive, continuing to produce newsletters, write submissions to reproductive-health related legislation as well as lobby for law change.
Sparrow played key roles on other fronts, too including in setting up a not-for-profit company, Istar, to import the abortion pill (mifepristone or RU486) into New Zealand.
[15] A revival of feminist activism in the new millennium also helped ALRANZ rebuild, as a new generation of women saw New Zealand’s 30-plus year old law as a discriminatory example of outdated notions about reproductive rights and justice.
In 2010, when Healey took over from longtime president Sparrow, a basic website, which Dame Margaret had helped set up, was revamped and younger activists joined the ALRANZ executive.
That same year, Terry Bellamak, in conjunction with ALRANZ, set up the MyDecision site aimed at collating information about doctor, pharmacists, and others involved in reproductive health care who refused to treat patients (under the auspices of "conscientious objection").
Along the way, while RTL lost on several key points, including their attempt to secure a legal status under New Zealand Bill of Rights Act for the "unborn child".
In 2008, RTL had a positive ruling, in which Forrest Miller J questioned the legality of more than 98 percent of abortions being approved under the mental health ground (section 187A (1)(a) of the Crimes Act 1961).
In a television appearance in 2017, Bellamak challenged the belief—expressed on the programme by then Prime Minister Bill English—that the status quo of de facto abortion on demand was sufficient.
"[20] A national poll commissioned by ALRANZ in 2017 indicated that a majority of New Zealanders supported the legalisation of abortion in all seven specific circumstances given to them in the survey (e.g., maternal death, contraceptive failure, rape, etc.).
