Print friendly
Eight women who have had abortions have asked the prime minister to be cautious about any changes made to the abortion law.
They have written Jacinda Ardern an open letter, published on Sunday as a full-page advertisement in the Sunday Star-Times, the Herald on Sunday and in the Dominion Post on Monday.
Spokesperson Barbara Hill said that it was time for an honest conversation about the impact abortions have.
“We began to feel that the law was changing too fast without any investigation of the fallout and consequences of abortion.”
The open letter includes the names of the eight women and the number of children they have, including those they have aborted.
“We did what we thought was best at the time, encouraged – or in some cases pressured, by those around us. But we have suffered,” they say in the letter.
“It was expedient at the time – it solved the initial problem I had, but I didn’t realise until years later that I’d actually been grieving,” Hill said.
Motivated by her own experience, she’s calling for greater support and information to be given to women who are considering abortion.
“Once I stepped on the medical conveyor belt, there was no counselling or any information around potential fallout,” Hill said.
“All the other women I’ve spoken to, not one of them has had really in-depth counselling about the possible outcome of this.”
Hill said the advertisements were funded by the eight women and a number of organisations including Family First.
The prime minister hadn’t yet read the letter when Newshub spoke to her but said all views would be considered.
She agrees with the letter writers that support for women who are considering abortion should be paramount.
Source
Related Posts:
News category: New Zealand.
