Health / Crime

From crime to care: A history of abortion in New Zealand

11:30 am on 28 February 2023

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As the US gets to grips with the massive implications of the overturn of Roe v Wade last year, how has abortion legislation in New Zealand changed over the years?

It's the subject of a new book from Dr Felicity Goodyear -Smith, called From Crime to Care: The History of Abortion in Aotearoa New Zealand. She's a former certifying consultant from 1981 until 2020,  when abortion was decriminalised in New Zealand.

The book begins with a look at abortion in pre-colonial times, through the late 19th century when so-called "baby farmers" were a solution to unwanted babies, to the liberalisation of sexual attitudes and behaviour in the 50s and 60s.

But it's the events of the 1970s that are the book's particular focus: the setting up of the first abortion clinic in 1974 and how that went down with a strong anti-abortion movement at the time.

Dr Goodyear-Smith says although New Zealand's abortion law has gone from being a criminal to a health concern, the US decision shows how it liberal laws can be undone - and that New Zealand must ensure its reforms endure.

Photo: Supplied