Safe Area Bill passes second reading

The Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion (Safe Areas) Amendment Bill has been read for the second time in Parliament during an extended sitting.

The Bill passed 108 for and 12 against.

The following parliamentarians voted against the Bill.  They should be congratulated for their stand for freedom of expression and encouraged to continue voting against the Bill for the third and final reading.

• Harete Hipango
• Simeon Brown
• Simon O’Connor
• Chris Penk
• Penny Simmonds
• Louise Upston
• Michael Woodhouse
• Melissa Lee
• Maureen Pugh
• Anahila Kanongata’a-Suisuiki
• Jamie Strange
• Neru Leavasa

The Bill is now at the Committee of the Whole House stage, allowing for further debate and for amendments to be proposed and voted on. 

Once the Bill passes through the Committee of the Whole House, it is ready for its third and final reading.

It is quite reasonable to expect that the Bill will become law within the next few weeks.

As mentioned previously, it appears that the Committee members did not intend the law to reach so far as to prohibit people praying silently within a so-called “Safe Area”.  However, this point is ambiguous within the legislation and does need to be clarified.

Touted as being in the interests of women so that they can access legal “health care” without being harassed, intimidated, or abused (physically and verbally), this Bill’s actual purpose is to cover the gruesome reality of abortion, sanitising it with euphemistic language in the hope that somehow that will remove the deep sadness and shame associated with abortion.

Critically, so-called safe areas are not safe for the most vulnerable in this situation – the pre-born child who hides unseen in his or her mother’s womb.

We know that pregnant mothers who arrive at an abortion facility are facing a difficult situation.  However, they often have chosen abortion because they feel they have no other choice. 

We stand as a peaceful sign of hope, not judgment.  We stand in love.  We peacefully offer practical support to any pregnant mother in her greatest hour of need.

And we pray.  In our littleness and humility, we pray in reparation for the great sin against life that takes place in these buildings.  We pray because abortion grieves the heart of God who created and loves infinitely the babies, the mothers, the fathers, the workers.  We pray so that no pre-born child will die without being loved here on earth.

To be frank, our opposition to the exclusion zones established through “safe area” legislation has NOTHING to do with us.  It is not about our freedoms (although these are being unjustly limited).  It is about shining the light on the gruesome reality of abortion, the harm inflicted on mothers, and most importantly on the right of innocent human beings to be safe from a barbaric death.

Former abortion workers in the United States have stated that up to 75% of women booked for an abortion will not show for their appointment when there is a peaceful, prayerful presence outside.  Even if that number is smaller here in New Zealand, it still means that lives are saved without us even knowing (read about one such save here). 

The abortion lobby is afraid of us – because we offer pregnant women real choice.  And we do it in the most loving way possible.

Sacrificing your time to be present outside abortion centres is a true act of love and mercy. Prayer is our greatest weapon, for our fight is in the spiritual realm.  Satan is after souls.  He is attempting to destroy God by destroying His precious children, made in his image and likeness. 

There is no restriction at this present time that can compare to the pain and suffering endured by the little ones who are so brutally discarded, or that of mothers and fathers who carry the burden of a past abortion.

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