'Time for change': New Zealand unveils bill to legalise abortion

New law would reclassify termination as health matter not a crime permissible only in limited circumstances

Eleanor Ainge Roy in Dunedin
@EleanorAingeRoy
Mon 5 Aug 2019 04.32 BST Last modified on Mon 5 Aug 2019 13.07 BST

New Zealand has announced a bill to legalise abortion for all women that would reclassify terminations as a health matter rather than a crime.

For decades thousands of New Zealand women have struggled to access abortion in as equitable and timely manner. The current law says abortion is a crime and legal only in cases of incest, “mental subnormality” or foetal abnormality, or where the physical or mental health of the mother is at serious risk.

Other factors that may be taken into consideration but are not grounds in themselves include “sexual violation” and “extremes of age”, and the procedure requires the sign-off two doctors.

The justice minister, Andrew Little, announced the bill that would see abortion reclassified as a health issue and not a crime, and would bring New Zealand law into line with many other developed countries.

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