Judith Collins MP
National Party Families Spokeswoman

30 June 2004

Outdated Law Disempowers Parents

National Party Families spokeswoman Judith Collins is seeking to change the law that allows girls under 16 to get an abortion without parental notification.

"There were 89 under-age abortions in 2003, one every four days.

"The figures make a nonsense of the Associate Justice Minister's claim that the current law 'has worked perfectly well for 27 years'.

"In the US, in states where parental notification has been introduced, the abortion and pregnancy rates among young girls have gone down.

"New Zealand should be looking for some answers too.

"David Benson-Pope describes the law which allows young teenagers to get an abortion without parental notification as a 'fundamental right'.

"What he refuses to accept is that the rights of a responsible parent should outweigh those of the sexual abuser of the teenage girl who is currently the person benefiting from this outdated law," says Ms Collins.

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