National Office Voice For Life
PO Box 12-286 Thorndon
Wellington
Phone (09) 443 0995
Email info@voiceforlife.org.nz

Article 1

For the purposes of the present Convention, a child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.

Article 2

States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status.

Article 6

States Parties recognize that every child has the inherent right to life. (refer to article 6 of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child)

States Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child.

Article 2 of the Declaration refers: "It is the duty of the physician to promote and safeguard the health of the people. The physician's knowledge and conscience are dedicated to the fulfillment [sic] of this duty."

Article 3 states. The Declaration of Geneva of the World Medical Association binds the physician with the words, "The health of my patient will be my first consideration," and the International Code of Medical Ethics declares that, "A physician shall act only in the patient's interest when providing medical care which might have the effect of weakening the physical and mental condition of the patient."

Article 2

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status…..

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

This clearly states that the child because of physical and mental immaturity needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection before as well as after birth. The child shall be entitled to grow and develop in health and to this end special care and protection shall be provided to both him and his mother, including adequate pre-natal and post natal care. Comment: This is the same child who is not regarded as a human being under NZ law merely because of his unborn status. After having being classified as non-human the life of the child can be summarily dispatched.

Article 6 of this convention states in unambiguous terms "State parties recognise that every child has the inherent right to life."

s.158

Homicide defined. Homicide is the killing of a human being by another, directly or indirectly, by any means whatsoever.

s.159

Killing of a child. (1) a child becomes a human being within the meaning of this Act when it has completely proceeded in a living state from the body of its mother, whether it has breathed or not, whether it has an independent circulation or not, and whether the naval string is severed or not. (2) The killing of such a child is homicide if it dies in consequence of injuries received before, during, or after birth

s.182

Killing unborn child. (1) Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years who causes the death of any child that has not become a human being in such a manner that he would have been guilty of murder if the child had become a human being. (2) No one is guilty of any crime who before or during the birth of any child causes its death by means employed in good faith for the preservation of the life of the mother

s.182A

Miscarriage defined for the purposes of sections 183-187; essentially the death or destruction of the embryo or fetus after implantation.

s.183

Procuring abortion by any means

s.184

repealed 1977

s.185

repealed 1977

s.186

Supplying means of procuring miscarriage

s.187

Effectiveness of means used immaterial.

s.187A

Meaning of "unlawfully" this applies only to s.183 & s186

1907: Property Law

"It is certain that a child en ventre sa mere is protected by the law, and may even be a party to an action."

1938: Criminal Law

"The law of this land has always held human life to be sacred and the protection that the law gives to human life extends also to the unborn child in the womb."

1972: Law of Negligence

Gillard J in Watt v Rama, a landmark decision in the Victorian Full court, said of a child injured in the womb: "As its property real or personal is protected, so should its physical substance be similarly protected."

1980: Criminal Law and Administrative Law

Lord Denning in analyzing whether nurses would commit a crime if they complied with a Government directive concerning assistance in prostaglandin abortion procedures, said concerning the unborn child: "Throughout the discussion I am going to speak of the unborn child. The old common lawyers spoke of the child en ventre sa mere. Doctors speak of it as the foetus. In simple English it is an unborn child within the mother's womb. Such a child was protected by the criminal law almost to the same extent as the newborn baby. If anyone terminated the pregnancy, and thus destroyed the unborn child, he or she was guilty of a felony and was liable to be kept in penal servitude for life (see the Offences Against the Persons Act 1861), unless it was done to save the life of the mother (see R v Bourne [1938] 3 All ER 615; [1939] 1 KB 687)."

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