News Jaya

Law to be changed as it is not used as intended

The Government is to change the claim of right defence so it cannot be used the way it was when three activists got off a criminal conviction when they damaged the Waihopai spybase.[Briefing paper [PDF]]. It intends to do this because the law, although applied correctly in the case, was not used as originally intended by Parliament.

So, to be consistent, lets change abortion laws to reflect the original intent of Parliament. And if it is clear that the abortion laws are not used as intended by Parliament, but the intent of Parliament has since changed, then the Government should put up the bill to change the law, as in the case of the claim of right defence.

Additionally, I note that Labour has publicised two bills recently, which have yet to be put into the parliamentary ballot. One is Clare Curran's Kiwi Jobs Bill, which has been widely publicised [and is here as a PDF], the other one, as Chris Trotter notes is one from former Womens Affairs and former associate Health Minister Steve Chadwick that seeks to amend our abortion laws. The bil has been drafted, and the Minister has discussed the bill with groups such as Family Planning,and the media.

But, like Phil Goff's comments on the bill, the bill itself, is nowhere to be seen.

Phil Goff said he hadn't given the matter much thought.Phil Goff was the spokesperson for Young Labour in 1977 when it actively opposed the current abortion law. Phil Goff got a reasonable amount of publicity on it back then.

Fast forward 21 years later for much thought.

As legislation relating to abortion is a conscience issue for Members of Parliament, it would be for individual parliamentarians to determine whether and in what form legislative amendments would be passed