International Day for the Decriminalisation of Abortion

On this day, I decided to write to the Labour Women's Caucus. I don't know why I chose them, except that Steve Chadwick had come up against them with her proposed bill so I thought it a good place to start. But to be honest, I don't think this is an issue of "The Left". I've spoken to many National Party supporters (and a couple of MPs) who've been pro-choice, so this goes out to them too.

Dear Sue and the Labour Women's Caucus,

I'm Nikki and I'm a (relatively) young mother who would like to see our rubbish abortion laws reformed.

I love my daughter (who is now 7) very much but I'd be lying if I said that our abortion laws didn't influence my decision to continue my unplanned pregnancy at 19.

I found out reasonably late, at 16 weeks, and the fact that our abortion law only allowed me an extremely limited time to make a decision, I made other plans. Out of the sheer luck of the birth lottery, I had supportive parents who have been able to help me along the way. We had a welfare system that allowed me to finish my study and get a job. But it's definitely limited my choices in life.

I also had a subsequent abortion. My midwife warned me about it but I thought "I wouldn't be so stupid again." It turns out stupidity has nothing to do with it.

Was it for mental health reasons like the form from the Certifying consultant said? Hell no.

It was because I didn't want to be a single mother to two children from two different dads. And stuck on the DPB for ever.

The good thing is that my experience lead to reading more about abortion laws in New Zealand and discovering the online feminist movement.

Fast forward to now: I've been involved in pro-choice activism for the past couple of years and feel more and more passionate about it as the days go by. This passion is fueled by my own experience, the stories I hear from individual women, and the crap that the small, but very vocal, anti-choice activists pull around the place.

Thankfully the worst one has vacated the country and moved to Texas. And while I feel extremely sad for the women that he'll harass with his "prayer sessions" outside clinics, I'm so grateful that his efforts are focused elsewhere.

Anyway, the reason I'm actually writing is that I've heard from quite a few MPs that they want to see a popular movement before they'll be prepared to put in anything reforming our restrictive abortion laws. That's all fine and lovely, but no one talks about abortion. You know why? The system we have makes you feel like crap. It makes you feel as though it's something you shouldn't be doing.

Do you know what would help remove abortion stigma? Law reform.

So it's up to you, really.

We're here to support you. We'll march, write, yell, tweet, update the hell out of our Facebook statuses, and vote for a woman's right to choose. But we need you to do the law changing.

We need you to take the lead.

Please think about it.

Kind regards,

Nikki

Southland pro-choice activity

Mothers for Choice and ALRANZ are working together to stage some pro-choice events to counter the anti-choice activity that is going on there in the wake of Southern DHB's intention to set up a much-needed abortion service in Invercargill.

Know anyone in Invercargill that may be interested in heading along to support the pro-choice cause and the move to set up the abortion service?

If you need any motivation, we've got a douchebag anti-choice pediatrician threatening to resign if the service is started up (even though he's not legally required to participate or be involved in abortion at all. Never mind that he's a PEDIATRICIAN and has nothing to do with abortion.) and a Catholic Bishop waxing lyrical about a "culture of death".

There's also pro-choice protesting going on in Dunedin. ALRANZ's Facebook page is a good way of keeping up with all of this if you're interested.

1. MEETING: THURSDAY 16 AUGUST:

ALRANZ and its Southland members, with the support of Mothers for Choice, have organised a pro-choice meeting in Invercargill. We hope you can come. Check out the Event on Facebook. And stay tuned here and on our FB page for other pro-choice events in Invercargill next week.

Details:

WHEN: Thursday, 16 August. 7-9 p.m.

WHERE: Southland Community House, upstairs at 46 Kelvin Street, Invercargill.

For more info, or if you need a lift to the meeting, drop us a line at safeandlegal@gmail.com

Here’s ALRANZ's coverage of what’s been going on in Southland.

2. TALK: FRIDAY 17 AUGUST, SIT:

ALRANZ member, journalist and author Dr. Alison McCulloch will give a lecture on “The History of the Abortion Rights Struggle in New Zealand” at Southern Institute of Technology’s Hanson Hall on Friday 17 August, 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. The talk is based around her book, forthcoming in 2013, on the same topic, and will situate the current debate in Southland in a wider historical and political context.

3. SATURDAY, 18 AUGUST

An event with ALRANZ president, Dr. Morgan Healey. Details TBA. Stay tuned.

For more information on any of these events, email safeandlegal@gmail.com