I joined the march yesterday organised by ALRANZ to demonstrate support for the Abortion Law Reform Bill, which will remove abortion from the Crimes Act, and is due to be voted on in Parliament this month. Yesterday was a national day of action, with events in Auckland, Wellington, and Dunedin, as well as Christchurch. I chose to go to this event, rather than my usual Tuesday exercise class, because I think the law reform is so important.
We met at the Kate Sheppard memorial and I was disappointed at the size of the crowd, approximately fifty people. I recognised two other ‘older’ activists, and we commiserated about the fact that we were still marching for women’s bodily autonomy after more than forty years. It was good that there were so many young people there, and TV1 had sent a camera crew.
Some of the group in Cathedral Square
We all marched along Worcester Boulevard to Cathedral Square, where Sarah, a midwife, spoke eloquently about the need for law reform. Two young women sang “Lean on me”. There was an invitation to sign an open letter to MPs, which is supposed to be available on Facebook, but I’ve been unable to locate this. If you care about this issue please contact your local MP and encourage them to vote for reform.
Afterthought: A couple of days later this excellent article by Verity Johnson appeared in the Press.
For women’s choice it’s way past time
abortion should not be a crime
Ruth's Reflections 
Damn – I didn’t know about this!
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The only place I saw it promoted was on Facebook.
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Which FB group did you se it in?
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I’m not sure, it just came up on my FB page. I thought it was ALRANZ, but when I tried to find it again after the march I couldn’t.
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[…] and I welcome the chance to help bring about a society that reflects my values. My recent small action for abortion law reform was another such […]
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Verity’s article is very good.
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I never knew anything about this either. Its a shame groups organisations businesses etc have stopped advertising in the Press. I read the Press online most days. Facebook only provides you with ads if you are identified as being a good target for them.. obviously I am not a good target for this type of event.
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Jenny, I doubt most organisations would have the funds to advertise in the Press, but many have Facebook pages with details of upcoming events. Thinking about it afterwards I believe the first time I heard about this event may have been in a Green Party email.
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