Politicians have rejected calls for the leave to be extended to allow support for these women.

"We absolutely support this bill but requested that it be extended to cover post-abortive women, because all women matter, says a press release from Marina Young of Family First NZ.

"The loss and grief experienced by parents as a result of miscarriage absolutely deserve recognition, however, the grief and loss of post-abortive women need to be validated too, because there can be many factors that surround one's decision to have an abortion.

"Post abortive women need to know that it is okay to seek help and take time to grieve, and to allow their body to heal.

"Women are being persuaded to believe that an abortion is not a loss of life - but that is certainly not the experience of many post-abortive women, and their loss should not be ignored," says Young.

Young is the founder of the Buttons Project and spokesperson for Family First NZ.

When lodging the original bill, Labour MP Ginny Anderson said she thought post-abortion grief would be grounds for the bereavement leave.

"Bereavement leave for both miscarriages - often referred to by medical specialists as ‘spontaneous abortion' - and abortions would allow women the opportunity to seek the support and counselling that they may need at this time.

"We should never under-estimate the grief and loss that a woman personally experiences from either a miscarriage or an abortion," Young says.

"I ask that we walk gently in people's lives, as we do not know the journey that they have been on to lead them to where they are at this moment, and allow post-abortive women's grief and loss to be acknowledged."

A research paper for health professionals which reviews international evidence up to 2020 about the relationship between abortion and women's physical and mental health has found abortion is associated with a wide range of adverse physical and psychological outcomes.

The paper concluded it is essential for women to be made fully aware of all the risks they might face. The report has been sent to all DHBs.

Source

• Family First
• Image: RNZ

When lodging the original bill, Labour MP Ginny Anderson said, "I think [abortion] would be [grounds], but I would like this Member's Bill to pass."

"We absolutely support this bill, but requested that it be extended to cover post-abortive women. That's because we believe that all women matter. And that all loss should count.

"Just as the loss and grief experienced by parents as a result of miscarriage absolutely deserve recognition, so too does the loss and grief resulting from abortion which is experienced by many women.

"Women are being persuaded to believe that abortion is not a loss of life - but that is certainly not the experience of many post-abortive women, and their loss should not be ignored," says Marina Young, founder of the Buttons Project and spokesperson for Family First NZ.

"Bereavement leave for both miscarriages - often referred to by medical specialists as ‘spontaneous abortion - and abortions would allow women the opportunity to seek the support and counselling that they may need at this time.

"We should never under-estimate the grief and loss that a woman personally experiences from either a miscarriage or an abortion."

"Their grief and loss need to be validated too, because there can be many factors that surround one's decision to have an abortion. Post abortive women need to know that it is okay to seek help and take time to grieve, and to allow their body to heal. Because all women matter."

"I ask that we walk gently in people's lives, as we do not know the journey that they have been on to lead them to where they are at this moment, and allow post-abortive women's grief and loss to be acknowledged."

Family First is asking MPs to consider introducing an SOP to this effect.

Source:

• Family First
• Family First advocates for families. It seeks to promote strong families, marriage, and the value of life, based on principles that have benefited New Zealand for generations.

The bill will make it clear that the unplanned end of any pregnancy by miscarriage or stillbirth constitutes grounds for leave for the mother and her partner or spouse, and that the duration of the bereavement leave should be up to 3 days.

Currently, the bereavement leave provisions of the Holidays Act 2003 are ambiguous in their application to miscarriage and still-birth.

But the proposed legislation states a person who has had an abortion would not be eligible for bereavement leave.

"It is important that we allow families time to grieve, and I know for a fact that this is a sensitive topic that affects many families in New Zealand," said the Labour member of parliament Ginny Andersen, the sponsor of this private members bill.

"The committee believed that the intent of this bill is to provide bereavement leave to those who experience a miscarriage or stillbirth, not for abortion," Anderson said when she presented the bill for its second reading.

Speaking in the debate, National's Agnes Loheni said there is underlying hypocrisy with creating a law which will undoubtedly lead to women having to lie about their abortion so that they can be considered for bereavement leave.

"It is an intellectual dishonesty by refusing to acknowledge that a woman who has had an abortion has lost a child," she said.

"They willingly concede that a woman who has had a miscarriage has lost a baby worthy to be grieved over, but if a woman has had an abortion—no regard for that loss. Nothing to see here, folks—move on."

Source

• parliament.nz
• parliament.nz
• healthcentral.nz
• Image: scarymommy.com