Support for all Maori women

Media Release on behalf of Te Whāriki Takapou

Te Whāriki Takapou Chief Executive, Alison Green says her organisation supports all Māori women, regardless of age, to access an abortion with the knowledge that their health information will be confidential as required by the Privacy Act 1993 and the Health Information Privacy Code 1994.

In 2014, one in three women who received an abortion were Māori. Access to confidential abortion services is important for all women, including Māori women, and Te Whāriki Takapou would not support any change to legislation that affects Māori women’s access to abortion.

Māori communities should take heart from the knowledge that processes for managing fertility were a feature of pre-colonial Māori communities. Furthermore, managing fertility is in line with the notion that children are taonga and bringing children into the world requires optimal circumstances for whanau to raise their children.

Overall, rates of fertility and the number of abortions in New Zealand and across the world are falling. In New Zealand this is linked to better access and more favorable reports from medical service providers about the long acting contraceptive implants. Te Whāriki Takapou supports legal compliance to legislation and the Health Code, and greater free access to long-acting reversible contraceptives and easier access to medical and surgical abortions for all Māori women, particularly young women and those living outside of urban centres.

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