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Legislation to liberalise abortion in New Zealand soundly passed the second reading stage earlier today, in a move that attracted scathing criticism from pro-life parliamentarian Agnes Loheni.
The National Party MP told Parliament the bill would dehumanise the unborn, "to the point that we no longer call them babies".
In her emotional contribution, Ms Loheni warned about the importance of human identity - that would be undermined if the bill becomes law.
"Then we have lost our own humanity ... because they are the smallest versions of us," she said.
Ms Loheni criticised any appeal to "overall wellbeing" that would justify abortion.
The bill would scrap the necessity of two doctors approving abortion on physical or mental health grounds for abortion up to 20 week’s gestation. Women themselves would make the decision to end the life of the unborn during that time-frame.
Her speech provoked thunderous applause from the public gallery, prompting Speaker Trevor Mallard to warn visitors against seeking to “intervene”.
Labour Party MP Greg O'Connor supported the bill at the first reading because he hoped Parliament would make the bill more acceptable.
O'Connor, who has an intellectually disabled 27-year-old son, warned about the proposal adding greater pressure to parents to abort.
"What this post-20 weeks legislation will mean is that parents who do find out they have a child who may not be normal, who may be a child who isn't what they hoped the child might be, all of a sudden a whole new set of pressures are going to go on as a result of this legislation. "
The bill would entirely remove the legal test for terminations before 20 weeks, creating abortion-on-demand.
It would also scrap the post-20-week legal test that abortion is allowed only to save the woman's life or prevent serious injury.
Instead, the bill would empower two health practitioners to lawfully approve the killing of an unborn baby as ‘appropriate’, having regard to the mother's physical and mental health and "overall wellbeing".
Sources: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12313615
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/410859/abortion-legislation-bill-passes-second-reading