Voxy News Engine: Pro-Choice Protest To Hit Wellington Streets, by Emily Mountier:
A protest will be held on Tuesday at 1pm outside the Court of Appeal in Wellington demanding the repeal of New Zealand's current restrictive abortion laws. The demonstration will be targeted at the appeal hearing in Right to Life's ongoing case against the Abortion Supervisory Committee [1]. If successful, Right to Life's court action will severely curtail New Zealanders' reproductive rights. Action for Abortion Rights, a part of the coalition of groups organising the protest [2], is demanding that women have total ability to control what happens to their own bodies.
The current laws relating to abortion are patronising and disempowering to women. Even though no contraception is 100% effective, contraceptive failure is not grounds for an abortion. Rape is only a "factor that may be taken into account" [3] rather than sufficient grounds for an abortion in itself. Most abortions that take place now are done for "mental health reasons" which denies the capacity of healthy, competent women to make their own best reproductive choices. . . .