To those in the Supreme Court, 

Across Aotearoa, New Zealand our hearts broke as we woke to the news that millions will lose the constitutional right to abortion.

Your unethical decision has dire consequences, In total, abortion access is now expected to be cut off for around 36 million Americans of reproductive age, according to research from Planned Parenthood.

Abortion is a fundamental right.

Our solidarity is with all those Iiving across the USA where abortion is now unsafe and criminalised. 

We stand up and fight for the teenager full of promise, who won’t be able to finish school or live the life she wants because the state now controls her reproductive decisions; for the mother of a nonviable pregnancy who is now forced to bring that pregnancy to term; for the parents watching their child’s future evaporate before their very eyes; for the health care workers who can no longer help them without risking jail time- (Michelle Obama).

Here in New Zealand we legislated to decriminalise abortion and treat it as a health issue, not a criminal issue. That decision was grounded in the fundamental belief that it is a human right to choose.

When governments restrict access to abortions, people are compelled to resort to clandestine, unsafe abortions, particularly those who cannot afford to travel or seek private care.

Preventing women and girls from accessing an abortion does not mean they stop needing one. That’s why attempts to ban or restrict abortions do nothing to reduce the number of abortions, it only forces people to seek out unsafe abortions.

In contrast to a legal abortion that is carried out by a trained medical provider, unsafe abortions can have fatal consequences. So much so that unsafe abortions are the third leading cause of maternal deaths worldwide and lead to an additional five million largely preventable disabilities (WHO).

Those who are already marginalised are disproportionately affected by such laws as they have no means to seek safe and legal services in another country or access private care. They include women and girls on low income, refugees and migrants, adolescents, lesbian, bisexual cisgender women and girls, transgender or gender non-conforming individuals, minority or Indigenous women.

As New Zealanders we recognise the vital role that access to safe abortion plays in protecting the lives and health of our communities.

Access to safe abortion services is a human right. Under international human rights law, everyone has a right to life, a right to health, and a right to be free from violence, discrimination, and torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

Human rights law clearly spells out that decisions about your body are yours alone – this is what is known as bodily autonomy.

Forcing someone to carry on an unwanted pregnancy, or forcing them to seek out an unsafe abortion, is a violation of their human rights.

Access to abortion is therefore fundamentally linked to protecting and upholding the human rights of women, girls and others who can become pregnant, and thus for achieving social and gender justice.

We believe that everyone should be free to exercise their bodily autonomy and make their own decisions about their reproductive lives including when and if they have children. It is essential that laws relating to abortion respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of pregnant persons and not force them to seek out unsafe abortions.

We are against your decision and believe it is a violation of human rights, and ask for you to further educate yourselves and rethink this decision before condemning the communities you hold power over.

Sincerely, 

New Zealanders for abortion rights and equality.