WELLINGTON Statistical information used to obtain a High Court ruling doubting the lawfulness of many abortions is missing from the Abortion Supervisory Committees latest report to Parliament. Right to Life said the ASCs 2008 report, released in December, shows only 10 tables of statistics, whereas it had shown 16 in previous years.
One table omitted is that listing reasons for the authorisation for abortions.
This table in previous reports revealed that 98 per cent of abortions were authorised on the grounds of mental health, Right to Lifes Ken Orr said. This information was of critical importance in obtaining a High Court judgement last June, a ruling Mr Orr described as historic.
Justice Forrest Miller stated that New Zealand essentially has abortion on request and there is reason to doubt the lawfulness of many abortions authorised by certifying consultants.
The Crown is contesting the judgement at the Court of Appeal and Right to Life has lodged a cross-appeal on some aspects. These are expected to be heard in May.
Also missing from the 2008 ASC report are the tables listing the ethnicities of women having abortions and the procedures used for abortions.
Information on the number of women having repeat abortions has been changed to omit the number of repeat abortions after two. The 2007 report listed the numbers up to six abortions. That statistic was also of importance to the High Court ruling, Mr Orr said.
By law, the ASC must obtain, monitor, analyse, collate and disseminate information relating to the performance of abortion in New Zealand. It has a statutory duty to report annually to Parliament.
We believe that Parliament and the public of New Zealand have a right to the statistical information that has been withheld, Mr Orr said.
He questions why the information is not included and believes withholding it impedes a fuller understanding of the performance of abortion in this country.
Is the information being withheld in order to prevent Parliament from concluding that certifying consultants are using mental health grounds to provide unlawful abortion on demand? he asks.
The ASC report states: We have chosen not to include some tables which have been included in previous years because they have limited relevance without deeper analysis.
Right to Life has written to Justice Minister Simon Power asking that the committee be directed to urgently present a supplementary report to Parliament including the omitted statistics.
