Part 3: Conspiracy theories and abortion

Taking on the bullshit about abortion law reform in New Zealand.

Well, let’s get straight into it then. If you’ve been following conspiracy theories online you’ll see a great many of them include incorrect information about abortion law reform in New Zealand. Let’s deep dive into this issue to get to the facts.

Reproductive rights are human rights. Getting abortion law reform in this country was a decades long ordeal of trying to fight anti-choice lies. The Abortion Legislation Act 2020 repealed sections of the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977.

Put in the most simplest terms - before this, if you wanted an abortion the termination needed to be approved by two consultants. There were legal restrictions in place to accessing an abortion and it was in the Crimes Act.

Under the Abortion Legislation Act, anyone who is pregnant can seek an abortion from a qualified health practitioner within the first 20 weeks of their pregnancy. After 20 weeks, if you want an abortion you must meet certain criteria which is assessed by a qualified health practitioner (and I’ll talk more about this below).

Another key change was for doctors and nurses who only want to treat some of their patients based on whatever their ideological view is at the time. Those “doctors” and “nurses” will have to refer on their patient to someone who actually wants to do their job. There are other changes listed here.

Whether you agree with abortion or not is up to you. But that’s what the facts are. So when people say the Abortion Legislation Act permits “full term abortions” they are lying. When they say abortions are being performed so organs can be harvested they are lying. When they say babies are being terminated at birth because they’re the wrong gender they are lying.

These are lies we have seen for as long as we have been alive. They are not new. The desire to control women’s bodies has always lived in the hearts of humans.

On March 24, 2020, abortion was legalised in New Zealand after an exceptionally brutal misinformation campaign that included all of the same conspiracies you see on Instagram today. I became involved in fighting for abortion rights as a teenager, it was my entry into feminism after the murder of Dr George Tiller. He was shot in the head, in front of his family, at church. All because he valued the lives of women.

He saved so many lives. And his was snuffed out like he was worthless by someone who claimed they were “pro-life”.

It was a moment that revolutionised me. I was infuriated that our young bodies were being used to fight a war against women.

Back then we were told babies were being killed in the delivery unit, that foetuses were used for vaccines, that people were having terminations at 40 weeks because they wanted a girl. We were told there were skip bins outside of hospitals full of foetuses. We were sent images of babies who were stillborn and told they were 12 week foetuses. I spoke with mothers who had shared images of their precious babies, born in love but lost in birth, who had their only photos of their babies stolen by New Zealand anti-choice groups.

It was harrowing. But we kept fighting. The law changed - and the stories made up by anti-choice trolls didn’t. But the platform they use to spread these stories has.

Now they speak directly into their phones in soft child-like voices - “I just want all babies to be safe. If you knew what I knew - it’s so upsetting”. They sit their own children, who have not consented to be part of campaigning against women, on their laps. They say “the thing with vaccines is, they use cells from babies. I wish it wasn’t true. I’ve been crying all morning about it”. They throw on a filter. Sending it out to their thousands and thousands of blindly loyal followers - and then they make another green smoothie.

And nobody wants to be the person on Instagram saying - Actually, the change in law means that birthing people can now self-refer and a wider range of registered health practitioners can support them through the process.

That’s it. Because that story isn’t juicy. That story won’t get you attention. And attention is the lifeblood of these influencers.

Many of those who thought the law change would mean they could no longer claim a law change would result in full-term abortions carried out at whim for Bill Gates. But they just kept doing it. Because reality means nothing when you don’t function in reality.

The legislation is so clear:

Literally a screenshot from the legislation which you can read here.

I’ve had a friend whose much loved, desperately wanted baby was revealed to have a serious and significant heart defect. Baby would have passed away inside her, before birth. Her options were to go through a lengthy process to have baby pass earlier with her and her husband there during the process, or for it to happen at another time in utero. Do you know what she decided?

It’s none of your fucking business. And only a ghoul would insist on giving their input on that heart-breaking decision.

Reproductive rights are at risk all around the world because of the proliferation of misogynistic bullshit by women who will happily throw other women under the bus because they want to feel morally superior.

The pain people who have had to face second and third trimester abortions is being used by influencers to bait people. It’s sick.

And it’s unlikely to stop. Because nobody wants to have conversations about terminations online. That’s understandable. But it means these people have a captive audience for their lies. I don’t know what the answer is. I just know that the questions aren’t fair. Because they’re not framed in reality and the people asking them don’t care about the truth.

All they care about is that one follower who says to another follower - “I used to be pro-choice but then I read they abort babies at birth”.

The truth is still the truth even if no one believes it.