an abortion for a fifteen-year-old girl, alleging that they had acted in "bad faith". wall's motion was dismissed on the grounds that he had no right to mount the challenge and that decisions by certifying consultants were deemed not open to review. while spuc's president marilyn pryor regarded wall v. livingston as a major loss for anti-abortion advocates, alranz welcomed the ruling for upholding women's access to abortion services. wonaac also successfully appealed to the medical practitioners' disciplinary committee for wall to be censured on the grounds that he had violated patient confidentiality. wall was also fined nz$1,500. while wall had the censure revoked, the medical council found him liable for professional misconduct and added $500 in costs to the original amount. in 1983, national member of parliament doug kidd, with the support of spuc, introduced a private member's bill called the status of the unborn child bill. in response, the feminist national member of parliament marilyn waring introduced the pro-abortion rights contraception, sterilisation and abortion repeal bill to challenge kidd's bill. waring also leaked news about kidd's affair with a parliamentary secretary to wonaac. ultimately, both kidd and waring's bills were defeated and no changes were made to existing abortion legislation. while pryor blamed the status of the unborn child bill's hasty introduction for its defeat, abortion rights journalist alison mcculloch has attributed the bill's defeat to both waring's counter-bill and kidd's affair. in 1987, o'neill of spuc appeared before the new zealand parliament's justice and law reform committee and demanded the dismissal of the abortion supervisory committee (including the two spuc–backed members) on the grounds they had failed to carry out their functions. that same year, leo buchanan, the medical superintendent of masterton hospital refused to apply for a renewal of the hospital's license to provide abortion services, citing his conscientious objection to abortion. buchanan's actions effectively ended abortion services in the wairarapa region. in 1991, o'neill challenged the validity of abortion licenses throughout new zealand, leading to the temporary suspension of abortion operations in dunedin and waikato for several days. the otago health board's abortion license was suspended on the grounds of a legal technicality connected with the change from the hospitals act 1975 to the area health boards act. during the late 1980s, wonaac unsuccessfully lobbied several feminist mps including sonja davies and the minister of women's affairs margaret shields for a more liberal abortion law in the form of a private member's bill. however, the fourth labour government thought there was insufficient support for further abortion reform and instead passed the contraceptive, sterilisation and abortion amendment act 1990, which eliminated the restriction on who could educate and provide services and supplies. the–then health minister and future prime minister helen clark sponsored the cs&a amendment act. during the late 1980s and early 1990s, an anti-abortion group called operation rescue new zealand was active, modeling itself after the american-based randall terry's operation rescue organisation. operation rescue used aggressive clinics including picketing abortion clinics, remonstrating with abortion patients, breaking into buildings and operation theatres to disrupt operations, and distributing leaflets attacking abortion practitioners as "baby killers". operation rescue was also criticised for its aggressive tactics by the anti-abortion movement with women for live's president anettta moran rejecting the group's willingness to break the law. while spuc's leadership was initially critical of operation rescue nz, the leadership subsequently relented and allowed spuc members to participate. operation rescue nz had a large catholic component including priests and clergy. according to mcculloch, an estimated half of operation rescue's supporters were also spuc members. operation rescue's activities also attracted counter-protests from wonaac and the wellington-based group choice. attempts at abortion law reform, 1999–2001 in 1999, the abortion supervisory committee's annual report criticised mps for using it as a buffer between them and abortion interest groups, allowing them to abrogate their responsibilities. in response to that report, the newly-formed fifth labour government, which was in coalition with the alliance party, made attempts to reform new zealand's abortion laws. after several months of preparatory work, the cabinet agreed to amend the contraception, sterilisation and abortion act 1977 in july 2001 to allow one doctor to approve an abortion. the cabinet also submitted a supplementary order paper exploring the grounds for abortion, possible decriminalisation, and the abolition of the abortion supervisory committee. however, this plan was scuttled due to growing troubles within the labour–alliance coalition government. introducing medical abortions, 2002–2003 former alranz president margaret sparrow established a non-profit company called istar to import mifepristone (formerly known as ru 486), a pill used in medical abortions to cause the embryo to dislodge from the uterine wall, and a prostaglandin supplement to expel the remains. in 2002, istar convinced the abortion supervisory committee to seek a court ruling on how the cs&a act 1977 applied to the use of mifepristone. in april 2003, justice durie ruled that women seeking medical abortions must take medications in a licensed facility but need not remain there between taking the two sets of tablets, which are taken 48 hours apart. women also need not stay in the facility until the expulsion of the fetus completes the abortion. 2004 parental notification amendment bill in 2004, the fifth labour government passed the care of child act 2004 which allows a girl under the age of 16 to seek an abortion through the framework of the cs&a act 1977. that same year, national party mp judith collins, with the support of anti-abortion lobby group voice for life (formerly spuc), proposed an amendment to that law requiring anyone under 16 years of age to notify their parents before having an abortion. collins was opposed by alranz, the new zealand medical association and new zealand college of general practitioners. a nz herald digipoll showed that 71% of new zealanders believed parents should be informed about whether or not their child was to have an abortion, with 60% believing this should be legally mandatory. this "parental notification" legislation was heavily defeated, as the new zealand medical association and new zealand college of general practitioners objected that the abrogation of medical confidentiality would endanger pregnant incest survivors, and/or those within similar dysfunctional families and abusive parents. 2008 informed consent amendment bill during the 48th new zealand parliament, former kiwi party list mp gordon copeland placed a members bill, the contraception, sterilisation and abortion (informed consent) amendment bill, in the ballot. it was based on an australian capital territory 'informed consent' piece of legislation, since repealed. it was not drawn from the ballot, but in april 2008 copeland sought to introduce it for consideration by leave, which he did not receive. copeland has since been voted out of parliament, as he did not secure a constituency seat at the new zealand general election held in 2008 and his kiwi party polled well under the five percent threshold under the mmp framework in the electoral act 1993. chadwick's proposed amendment, 2010 in july 2010, labour mp steve chadwick proposed an abortion reform bill to take abortion out of the crimes act 1961. the anti-abortion organisation voice for life opposed the bill while alranz supported it. due to fierce opposition from anti-abortion opponents and a lack of sufficient parliamentary support, chadwick was unable to get the numbers to put her bill into ballot. even the progressive green party of aotearoa new zealand declined to issue a public statement supporting chadwick's bill. after chadwick lost her seat in parliament in the 2011 general election, she lamented the weakened state of the abortion rights movement in new zealand and opined that change was only possible if the new zealand law commission produced recommendations that any government would touch upon. challenges to abortion, 2009–2012 in 2009, the anti-abortion group right to life new zealand launched a court case against the abortion supervisory committee, accusing it of not sufficiently regulating abortion by allowing broad interpretation of the mental health exception. a high court decision supported some of right to life new zealand's points, finding that there was de facto abortion on demand. however, the abortion supervisory committee appealed this to the new zealand court of appeal. on 1 june 2011 the court of appeal overturned the earlier high court verdict favoring right to life, finding that there was no statutory reference to embryos and fetuses within new zealand law, and therefore no grounds for further attempted interference with existing abortion access procedures. it did not, however, overturn the finding that there was de facto abortion on demand in new zealand. in march 2012, right to life appealed to the new zealand supreme court, which dismissed their appeal by a 3–2 majority in august 2012. on 7 april 2011, during the term of the 49th new zealand parliament, māori party co-leader tariana turia moved that an anti-abortion pacific island doctor, ate moala, be appointed to the abortion supervisory committee. the vote was lost 70–30 against, with twenty absences or abstentions. that same year, anti-abortion groups successfully campaigned against an attempt by family planning new zealand to introduce early medical abortions at one of its clinics. renewed abortion reform efforts, 2018 during the 2010s, a wave of international abortion reform law changes led to a renewed campaign by new zealand abortion rights advocates to decriminalise abortion. alranz and other abortion rights groups argued that abortion was a health and reproductive rights issue that should be removed from the crimes act. in 2018, alranz and a group of women who had had abortions filed a case with the human rights commission challenging the existing abortion legal framework in new zealand. in late february 2018, the minister of justice andrew little sought advice from the new zealand law commission on realigning the country's abortion legal framework towards a health approach. the law commission also received 3,419 public submissions on abortion law reform between 4 april and 18 may 2018. in late october 2018, the law commission proposed three options: having no statutory test to make sure the abortion was appropriate at any point; taking abortion off the crimes act but having a statutory test; or only having a test for later-term abortions, after 22 weeks. 2019–2020 abortion reform legislation the abortion legislation bill was introduced to parliament in 2019 by justice minister andrew little. on 5 august 2019, the justice minister andrew little announced that the government would be introducing new legislation giving women access to abortion for the first 20 weeks of pregnancy without having to navigate legal loopholes and removing abortion from the crimes act 1961. however prime minister jacinda ardern has said it is not a government bill. other changes include allowing women to self-refer to an abortion service, ensuring that health practitioners advise women about counselling services, establishing safe areas around abortion facilities, and ensuring that conscientious objecting doctors inform women about their stance and alternative services. the government adopted the law commission's third approach for a test on later-term abortions but reduced the time-frame to 20 weeks. the test for late term abortions is contained in section 11 of the proposed bill. section 11 states that "a qualified health practitioner may provide abortion services to a woman who is more than 20 weeks pregnant only if the health practitioner reasonably believes that the abortion is appropriate in the circumstances..." the down syndrome advocacy group "saving downs" and disability advocates objected to section 11 on the grounds that would facilitate the termination of babies with disabilities right through to birth. both alranz and family planning have welcomed the proposed changes but criticized the 20-week limit. by contrast, conservative lobby group family first new zealand criticized the government's abortion law reform as "radical... and anti-human rights". labour and its coalition partner new zealand first engaged in several months of negotiations discussing the legislation. the minister for children and new zealand first mp tracey martin reportedly played an important part in these negotiations. despite initially ruling out a referendum, nz first leader winston peters subsequently demanded a binding referendum on abortion reform. in response, opposition national mp amy adams criticized nz first's u-turn, saying that the matter should be decided by parliament. national party leader simon bridges has indicated that he would support a select committee examining the bill. voting for the new legislation will be done through a conscience vote. justice minister little has