Voice for Life
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Voice for Life is New Zealand's oldest anti-abortion group, founded by pioneering New Zealand fetal surgeon Dr (Alfred) William Liley(1929-1983) in 1970, who became its first president. The organisation has been historically dominated by conservative Catholics, although numbers of fundamentalist Protestants joined during the early eighties. However, as time has gone on, its membership has aged, died off, and diminished. The organisation was also formerly associated with the Humanity Publishing Group, which produced the anti-abortion newspaper Humanity for over twenty five years (1975-2001). More recently, this was replaced by the Pro-Life Times (2001-2004), and a smaller newsletter from current Voice for Life President Josephine Reeves, from her home in rural Wanganui.
Voice for Life was formerly known as SPUC. According to its official historian, former President Marilyn Pryor, the New Zealand anti-abortion movement suffered a devastating defeat in 1983 after the High Court quashed anti-abortion General Practitioner's claim to represent a fetus in the context of the Contraception, Sterilisation Act 1977, struck out because there was no such clause. Since then, it has tried to stack the Abortion Supervisory Committee and introduce anti-abortion legislation within the New Zealand Parliament, but has failed to get its bills past their first parliamentary reading.
Voice for Life has a website. It should not be confused with Right to Life New Zealand, which seems to favour the total prohibition of abortion in New Zealand, as it has more recently espoused incremental anti-abortion laws, like attacking competent minor abortion access (the "Gillick competence" test)in 2004, and forcing women to look at enlarged foetal images (so called 'informed consent' anti-abortion laws) within parliamentary private members bills.
However, in New Zealand, abortion access has become increasingly easy to obtain, although access usually occurs within abortion clinics in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington, within the public sector.
Websites
- http://www.voiceforlife.org.nz
Organisational History
Marilyn Pryor: The Right to Live: The Abortion Battle of New Zealand: Auckland: Haelen Books: 1985: ISBN 0908630239
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