HISTORY MADE

‘Long Time Coming’: Abortion Is No Longer a Crime in New Zealand

Now any woman up to 20 weeks pregnant can get an abortion with no fear of legal penalties.

Abortion is no longer illegal in New Zealand after lawmakers passed a historic bill Wednesday that treats the procedure as a health issue. Until the vote, abortion in the country was regulated by a criminal law that forced women to prove to a doctor that their pregnancy presented a danger to their physical or mental health before they could get the procedure. Now any woman who is up to 20 weeks pregnant can get an abortion, and those over 20 weeks can get one if approved by a health practitioner. The vote in parliament wasn’t overwhelming but it was a substantial victory of 68 to 51 in favor. Margaret Sparrow, an 85-year-old doctor who has spent her life advocating for the reproductive rights of women after she was forced to attempt a dangerous secret abortion at the age of 21, told the Associated Press after the vote: “It’s been a long time coming.”