From the deputy editor: 7 July 2022
Women’s rights
New Zealand is internationally recognised and praised for leading the way in creating a safe and equal place for all people to live. And although we still have a long way to go in some areas, thankfully safe and necessary healthcare is something we have committed to providing for women in Aotearoa.
While it is easy to feel removed from what has recently happened in America with the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs Wade, as our Prime Minister perfectly put it, “it feels like a loss for women everywhere”.
It is then a pertinent time to reflect on New Zealand’s own history on the same matter.
New Zealand’s abortion laws were debated and voted on in 2020, officially removing abortion from the Crimes Act.
In a nation that has a proud and progressive history, it wasn’t achieved without the generations of incredible Kiwi women who campaigned and advocated for the right to choose. Let’s never take that, or those women, for granted.
And although it is happening half a world away, you might still be feeling angry, confused, and scared about what this means for reproductive rights across the world.
Women are strong, and will continue to fight for autonomy over their bodies until the fight is done. Situations like this do have a way of uniting us, even from across the globe. People everywhere will be educating themselves, and rallying behind those who need it most. Do what you can with what you have. We are all in it together.
