A story from NZ Catholic, the national Catholic newspaper

Pro-life spokesman calls video "sickening"

by GAVIN ABRAHAM

CHRISTCHURCH - Pro-life advocate Ken Orr has called an online video attacking him and the organisation he represents "sickening" and says he may complain to the police.

In a High Court judgement issued last week, Justice Forrest Miller said there was "reason to doubt the lawfulness of many abortions authorised by certifying consultants". The ruling came after Mr Orr's society, Right to Life New Zealand, argued that the Abortion Supervisory Committee was not fulfilling its obligations under the 1977 Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act.

Mr Orr called the judgement the most significant development in abortion law since the act was passed. But it has caused concern in groups that support a woman's right to have ready access to abortion.

Under the CS&A Act, women can only have an abortion if the continuation of a pregnancy would cause serious danger to the women's health or life.

Mr Orr said he expected there would be a backlash from certain groups, but said a video currently on YouTube is well beyond the pale.

"In 30 years [fighting abortion], I've not seen anything quite so nasty," he told NZ Catholic.

In the video, introduced as a message to Right to Life from the "women of Aotearoa New Zealand", the creators tell the society to "F**k off" and shows many women and children extending their middle finger to a camera.

In one slide, a gun is shown pointing to a photo of Mr Orr with the text "Your sperm isn't f**ken sacred". The video, posted by "prochoicenz", then calls him a "stupid c**t".

Despite the level of anger in the video, Mr Orr said such hostility is "not unexpected".

The responses come because his message is counter-cultural, he said.

"I'm not going to stop because of this sort of behaviour," Mr Orr said.

Mr Orr said he is still considering whether to take the matter to the police.

ENDS

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