Marama Davidson on abortion

Marama Davidson writes:

Abortion is only legal if two consultants agree that there would be serious physical or mental harm to the woman’s health, or if the foetus has a serious disability. As a result, 99 per cent of abortions are approved on “mental health” grounds. This is a forced dishonesty that also requires women to justify our decisions. This is not a lightly made lifestyle choice.

I acknowledge that abortion is not the ideal solution to unplanned pregnancies. I support the continual plea for better education, improved access to contraception and more support for adoption and whangai avenues.

In an election year, we should demand that any government will decriminalise abortion. I and many others are not criminals. This is a healthcare matter. And for Lent we should give up judgment.

I agree that the current law is basically a sham, and the law should be changed to reflect the reality – which is abortion is the mother’s choice (at least in the early stages). However I don’t expect there would be any desire among most MPs to have an abortion law reform debate.