Abortion controversy 6

Voice for Life, formerly Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child -a History

Dr Pat Dunn and Sir William Liley inspired thousands of New Zealanders to join the anti-abortion movement.

In July 1971, SPUC brought Mrs Jill Knight, a British Conservative MP to talk about abortion in Britain. She had four television appearances, eight radio sessions, and 16 newspaper and magazine interviews. Jill Knight met MPs and spoke at well-attended public meetings in the four main centres.

By the beginning of 1972, there were 24 branches with about 20,000 members. A national conference was held in March, to officially launch the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child.

In 1973, the first national conference was held in Auckland in March, followed by an evening march down Queen St on July 13. Organised by Auckland University's Right to Life group, the march attracted an estimated 4,500 people, but was largely ignored by the media.

Capital Politics

The 1974 national conference was held in Wellington. Sir William Liley retired as national president and was replaced by Dr Diana Mason (wife of the playwright Bruce Mason). The national headquarters moved to Wellington. Diana Mason was later succeeded by top Wellington lawyer, Des Dalgety, who brought formidable legal and political skills to the movement.

1974 saw the Aotea abortion clinic open, the Wall Bill was introduced to Parliament and Prime Minister Norman Kirk (a strong anti-abortion supporter) died.

Also at this conference, Mrs Ruth Kirk, wife of the then Prime Minister (Norman Kirk), was elected third national patron. Mrs Kirk's patronage caused great public controversy, and while the right to have her personal views was respected, members of the Labour Party and various women's groups deplored the political implications of her accepting this position. By this time SPUC was claiming a total membership of about 40,000 members.

There is an unwritten convention that abortion legislation is kept out of Parliament in an election year (1984). Jamieson was under great pressure to complete the Status of the Unborn Child Bill by 6 October, 1983. Des Dalgety had to brief the Prime Minister, Rob Muldoon and supportive MPs, knowing there would be very little time to have the bill move through the select committee and the readings, before Parliament closed for the year.

On 7th October, Marlborough MP (and later Speaker of the House) Doug Kidd agreed to bring the bill into the House.

The atmosphere in Parliament was electric. It seemed a small majority of MPs would support the bill, but SPUC found that limited time prevented personal briefing sessions. This was to prove fatal, when there was later confusion about aspects of the legislation.

Counter Move

Within days, Marilyn Waring announced that she was bringing a Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Repeal bill into the House. It was seen as a move to retain the status quo, providing MPs with the option of opposing both Waring and Kidd bills, and then claiming they had opposed efforts to make abortions more readily available.

The CS&A Repeal bill would repeal the Act and make abortions a matter between the woman and her doctor.

MPs spoke with great passion in support of either bills. The Waring bill was voted on first, going down 20 to 57. The House then returned to the Kidd bill. There was a sense of unease among some supportive MPs, that there were no provision for exceptional circumstances such as rape, incest or foetal abnormality. Some indicated they would seek amendments once the bill went to select committee.

The Vote

It was time to vote. By 48 to 30 votes, Parliament opposed the introduction of the Status of the Unborn Child Bill. 20 MPs supported the Waring bill, 30 supported the Kidd bill ? and 28 who opposed both bills.

Since 1983, SPUC has never attempted to promote legislation again. Doug Kidd had to endure personal attacks outside of Parliament, of such a nature that they have served as a salutary warning to other MPs ever since.

Ironically in 1997, the SPUC executive had to clamp down on a group within the Christchurch branch, who wanted to promote the Status of the Unborn Child bill again. The executive had taken discreet soundings and knew there weren't the "numbers" in Parliament to support such legislation.

They had also consulted with their British counterparts, who strongly advised against such a move. SPUC UK, had promoted a similarly-named bill and over estimated the numbers. Abortion-rights MPs countered with a series of amendments, which were quickly voted through. SPUC UK not only lost the bill, but the British Abortion Act was further liberalised.

Grassroots Activity

Most SPUC activity takes place in local branches around the country. Members write letters to their local papers, fundraise with cake stalls, set up displays at market and field days and promote the message to local churches and community groups.

The heady days of the 70s, when thousands rallied to the new cause, are a distant memory. Age and death have thinned the ranks to a national membership of 30,000 (as at September, 2003). The abortion numbers may increase every year, but SPUC carries on, sustained in the belief that the figures would be higher still, if they were to cease their work.

After a two year consultation process, in September 2004 a vote was taken by the national executive of SPUC to rebrand, was unanimous. It was decided that with the issue of euthanasia looming in New Zealand, a new name was necessary to allow the organisation to take on not only the isue of abortion but also other "life" issues, such as euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research and cloning.