This Supplementary Order Paper amends the Abortion Legislation Bill by inserting new section 184 in clause 12 to prohibit the provision of abortion on the grounds of sex discrimination. These sections introduce penalties associated with contravening the premise of non-discrimination.

For pregnancies of more than 20 weeks’ gestation, the Bill makes abortion on the grounds of the sex of the unborn child significantly more accessible than under the current law. International examples of abortions conducted on the basis of discrimination of this kind are common, and present a considerable threat to particular groups in New Zealand, particularly females (who are much more likely to be aborted on the basis of gender than males).

There does not currently exist a framework whereby an abortion can be performed solely on the basis of sex. Frankly, a far greater injustice occurs when an unborn child is aborted on the basis of what and who they are, rather than simply for the fact that they are.

The Bill contains no safeguards to prevent abortions of this kind occurring, and in concert with the greater accessibility to abortion post-20 weeks and the potential for greater screening and knowledge concerning the gender of the unborn child, restrictions must be included to ensure that discrimination of this kind is not allowed. To avoid the risk of discrimination on the basis of sex, this Supplementary Order Paper inserts explicit prohibition. Parliament has done this in other comparable situations, such as in the practice of in-vitro fertilisation, or IVF, where sex selection of an embryo is expressly prohibited except “to prevent or treat a genetic disorder or disease”.