ruled out nz first's calls for holding a referendum on abortion reform. national party leader bridges has indicated he will vote against abortion reform but will allow national mps to exercise a conscience vote. on 8 august, the abortion legislation bill passed its first reading by 94–23 votes and was referred to select committee stage. by october 2019, the abortion legislation committee had received 25,000 submissions from various legal and medical experts, religious groups, national organisations and ordinary people sharing personal experiences. due to the large volume of submissions, the committee only heard 150 oral submissions out of the 2,890 who had opted to speak. in mid-february 2020, the abortion legislation committee recommended safeguards to address sex selection, late-term abortions, eliminate some barriers for women seeking abortions, and require a health professional approving abortion after 20 weeks to consult with another health professional including nurses and medical practitioners. in addition, loheni published a minority report criticising the bill for what she regarded as a lack of safeguards on foetal abnormalities and late-term abortions. act new zealand leader david seymour supported the select committee's recommendations but argued that safe zones infringed on freedom of expression. while the new zealand medical association welcomes these changes, catholic bishops said that the legislation lacked safeguards for unborn babies with fetal disabilities. on 3 march 2020, the bill passed its second reading by a narrower margin of 81–39 votes and was referred to a committee of the whole house. on 10 march, a committee of the whole house considered and rejected several amendments that included reducing penalties for safe zones, eliminating statutory tests for abortion up to birth, preventing gender-selective abortions, and requiring medical intervention of unintended live births. however, the committee passed two amendments including one by labour mp ruth dyson dealing with conscientious objection and one by act party mp david seymour eliminating safe zones around abortion clinics. on 18 march, the abortion legislation bill passed its third and final reading by a margin of 68 to 51. the bill's passage preceded a debate that same day where parliamentarians voted by 100–19 votes against holding a public referendum on abortion. safe access zone legislation on 10 march 2021, a private members bill, the contraception, sterilisation, and abortion (safe areas) amendment bill was introduced into the new zealand parliament. its purpose is to create safe areas around abortion facilities, on a case-by-case basis, "to protect the safety and well-being, and respect the privacy and dignity, of women accessing abortion facilities and practitioners providing and assisting with abortion services". it passed its first parliamentary reading (100–15), although it has to pass two more parliamentary readings, as well as a parliamentary select committee to assess submissions for and against its passage. on 16 march 2022, the safe areas amendment act passed into law by a margin of 108 to 12 votes. it received royal assent on 18 march. the bill creates safe spaces of no more than 150 metres around abortion providers. it also bans obstructing, filming in an intimidating manner, dissuading or protesting against those trying to access abortion services in those zones. public opinion and activism in march 2019, 69.9% of respondents to a poll by newshub supported the decriminalisation of abortion. abortion rights groups and supporters margaret sparrow, president of alranz (1975–1980, 1984–2011) the main abortion rights lobby group is abortion law reform association of new zealand (alranz), which favours the complete decriminalisation of abortion in new zealand. during the 1990s and early 2000s, alranz experienced a steep decline in membership, with alranz's christchurch and hawke's bay branches shutting down in 1996 and 2004. by 2011, alranz's membership had dwindled to around 235 members. contemporary abortion rights activism has focused on defending the status quo from anti-abortionists and lobbying for the legalisation of mifepristone for use in medical abortions. historical abortion rights lobby groups have included the more radical women's national abortion action campaign (wonaac), the auckland anti-hospitals amendment bill committee, the may abortion action committee, and the national organisation for women (now). some professional bodies have also taken a pro-abortion rights position. new zealand family planning (formerly the family planning association) supports abortion laws that respect women's autonomy and human rights. the new zealand medical association supports abortion reform including the removal of abortion from the crimes act 1961. the new zealand association of rationalists and humanists (nzarh) has advocated the removal of abortion from the crimes act 1961, viewing it as a matter of reproductive rights. amnesty international new zealand has supported abortion law reform including the removal of abortion from the crimes act. anti-abortion groups and supporters a roadside sign in the south island advocating anti-abortion. the first major anti-abortion group in new zealand was the society for the protection of the unborn child (spuc), which was led by marilyn pryor. spuc drew support from the catholic church in new zealand and politicians from the two major parties, labour and national. by 1975, spuc had 28 branches and 40,000 members. policy differences between the national leadership and the christchurch branch led by ken orr led to spuc's splintering in 2000. the christchurch branch revamped itself as right to life new zealand in september 2000 while the national organisation rebranded itself as voice for life in 2004. other anti-abortion groups have included family life international, family first new zealand, the youth-based organisation prolife nz, focus on the family new zealand. some of these anti-abortion groups had international connections and also took an interest in other issues including euthanasia and in vitro fertilisation. these anti-abortion groups were often well-funded. according to mcculloch, right to life had an annual income of nz$25,000 to nz$35,000 a year during the mid-to-late 2000s; spending nz$80,000 on its legal challenge against the abortion supervisory committee by may 2009. some former anti-abortion groups have included operation rescue new zealand, women for life, and the kiwi party. in 2013, mcculloch has estimated that the anti-abortion movement in new zealand had tens of thousands of members. anti-abortion activism have included picketing abortion clinics and hospitals, targeting doctors and members of the abortion supervisory committee, public booths, newspaper advertisements, distributing informational material, lobbying politicians, letters to the editor, and protests. operation rescue nz drew controversy for its aggressive methods which included invading abortion clinics and operating theatres and sending death threats to abortion practitioners. anti-abortion groups have also pursued a "stop family planning" campaign reminiscent of similar efforts in the united states against planned parenthood. in 2009, former prolife new zealand leader andy moore created a spoof website using the domain name "alranz.org.nz" which attacked alranz. after "alranz.org.nz" was shut down by a successful complaint, moore created a wiki called "abortionwiki" which targeted alranz and other abortion rights supporters. in addition, violent militant elements of the anti-abortion movement have also perpetrated arson attacks and bomb threats against abortion clinics. the auckland medical aid centre experienced several arson attacks in 1976 and 1989. lyndhurst clinic in christchurch experienced arson attacks in may 1985 and october 1989. in 1999 graeme white was jailed for tunneling into lyndhurst clinic in a failed attempt to blow it up. epsom day clinic experienced an arson attack in 1985, a firebombing in april 1987, and a bomb threat in october 1989. these violent attacks on clinics were disavowed by anti-abortion leaders including marilyn pryor and auckland spuc president john carroll. christian the catholic church in new zealand has remained an opponent of abortion, teaching that life begins at conception. the presbyterian church of aotearoa new zealand has expressed concerns that the abortion legislation act 2020 does not protect unborn children and could lead to sex and disability-selective abortions. the new zealand christian network takes the view that abortion should be "safe, legal and rare" and opposed abortion legislation bill on the grounds that it does not protect unborn children and would facilitate abortion on demand. the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints (lds church) opposes elective abortions for personal and social convenience but permits abortion in cases of rape, incest, protecting the life and health of the mother, and fetal deformities. the lds church has not taken a stand on legislative proposals and public demonstrations regarding abortion. political parties' positions act party the libertarian act party views abortion as a personal right for women. in 2019 the party supported reforming new zealand's abortion laws. green party of aotearoa new zealand the green party of aotearoa new zealand supports decriminalising abortion, regarding it as a matter of female autonomy. all green mps voted in support of the abortion legislation act 2020 labour party during new zealand general election, 2017, the labour party's leader jacinda ardern said a labour government would decriminalise abortion. minister of justice andrew little has also supported abortion reform, arguing that a woman should have the right to decide unless the pregnancy is more than 22 weeks. the labour party voted 37 to 9 in favour of the abortion legislation act 2020. national party the national party voted 35 to 19 against the abortion legislation act 2020. nz first nz first voted 7 to 2 against the abortion legislation act 2020. new conservative party the new conservative party, which has never been represented in the new zealand parliament, opposes abortion and advocates for parental notification for adolescent abortions. statistics since 1978, the abortion supervisory committee (asc) has collected statistics on the numbers of terminations performed each year, and for what reason, under the terms of the contraception, sterilisation, and abortion act 1977. in 1983, statistics new zealand agreed to process abortion statistics on behalf of the asc and subsequently took over responsibility for releasing abortion-related statistics in 1998. since abortion was illegal until 1977, there are no exact figures on abortions prior to the 1970s. megan cook estimates that 10,000 abortions took place each year during the 1930s, based on statistics relating to the number of women admitted to hospital during that period for septic abortions. historical figures during the 1970s and 1980s, the abortion rate per woman rose from 0.02 in 1971 to 0.30 by 1986. the number of unmarried women seeking abortions, including those in de facto relationships, also increased. during that period, women aged 24 and younger were more likely to seek abortions than older women. while european new zealanders were more likely to have an abortion at a younger age to end an unwanted pregnancy, māori and pasifika new zealanders were more likely to use abortion due to lack of access to contraception. according to figures released by statistics new zealand, the number of abortions rose from 8.5 per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years in 1980 to 14 per 1,000 women in 1990. by 2000, this figure had risen to 18.7 per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years but has since declined to 13.5 per 1,000 women as of 2018. as the annual statistics for the abortion supervisory committee have repeatedly said, mental health grounds are the predominant grounds for most certified abortions in new zealand. the high numbers of abortions in new zealand for mental health grounds have led anti-abortionists to express concerns that the mental health exception is being used to allow abortion on demand. by contrast, alranz says that successive abortion-related case law has preserved the status quo of partial decriminalisation and liberal terms of abortion access for most new zealand women who need an abortion. 2018 abortion statistics according to statistics new zealand, 13,282 induced abortions had been performed in new zealand in 2018. there were 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years in 2018, down from 13.7 per 1,000 women in 2017. split amongst ethnicity in 2018, the highest rates were among european women (7,567), followed by māori (2,979), asian women (2,789), and pacific women (1,354), and melaa (or middle eastern, latin american, and african) (215). in 2017, new zealand's abortion rate of 13.7 per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years was similar to the united states (13.5), south australia (13.2 in 2016). this is below england and wales (17.0), france (17.2), and sweden (19.8) but higher than germany (7.1), finland (9.6), scotland (12.1), and norway (12.5).