CHRISTCHURCH Pro-life advocate Ken Orr has laid a complaint with police over an online video attacking him and the organisation he represents. As NZ Catholic first reported last week, a profanity-laden video had been posted on the website YouTube, apparently in response to a High Court judgement released earlier this month.
In his ruling, Justice Forrest Miller said there was reason to doubt the lawfulness of many abortions authorised by certifying consultants. The ruling came after Mr Orrs society, Right to Life New Zealand, argued that the Abortion Supervisory Committee was not fulfilling its obligations under the 1977 Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act.
Mr Orr called the judgement the most significant development in abortion law since the act was passed. But it has caused concern in groups that support a woman’s right to have ready access to abortion.
Under the CS&A Act, women can only have an abortion if the continuation of a pregnancy would cause serious danger to the womens health or life.
Mr Orr said he expected there would be a backlash from certain groups, but said the YouTube video is well beyond the pale.
In 30 years [fighting abortion], Ive not seen anything quite so nasty, he told NZ Catholic.
In the video, introduced as a message to Right to Life from the women of Aotearoa New Zealand, the creators tell the society to F**k off and shows many women and children extending their middle finger to a camera.
In one slide, a gun is shown pointing to a photo of Mr Orr with the text Your sperm isn’t f**ken sacred. The video, posted by prochoicenz, then calls him a stupid c**t.
Despite the level of anger in the video, Mr Orr said such hostility is not unexpected. After considering his options, though, he decided to lay a complaint with police.
“I believe that it was necessary to take this action as the video is an incitement to violence,” he said. “If nothing is done, others in the prolife movement may in the future be the subject of this type of unwarranted attack.”
The angry responses come because his message is counter-cultural, he said.
Im not going to stop because of this sort of behaviour, Mr Orr said.
