Jacinda Ardern has said Labour will decriminalise abortion in New Zealand if it wins this month’s general election. In a fiery 90-minute televised leaders’ debate on Monday night in Auckland, Ardern stated unequivocally that abortion “shouldn’t be in the Crimes Act”. Has the friendly rivalry between New Zealand and Australia been fatally injured? “If the changes came before parliament I would be opposed to liberalising the law,” said English, to silence from the audience. “The New Zealand landscape is quite rugged, and distances and travel times can be very high, and access to abortion is not good enough for women in New Zealand.

Source: The Guardian September 05, 2017 02:03 UTC