On this day, I decided to write to the Labour Women's Caucus. I don't know why I chose them, except that Steve Chadwick had come up against them with her proposed bill so I thought it a good place to start. But to be honest, I don't think this is an issue of "The Left". I've spoken to many National Party supporters (and a couple of MPs) who've been pro-choice, so this goes out to them too.
Dear Sue and the Labour Women's Caucus,
I'm Nikki and I'm a (relatively) young mother who would like to see our rubbish abortion laws reformed.
I love my daughter (who is now 7) very much but I'd be lying if I said that our abortion laws didn't influence my decision to continue my unplanned pregnancy at 19.
I found out reasonably late, at 16 weeks, and the fact that our abortion law only allowed me an extremely limited time to make a decision, I made other plans. Out of the sheer luck of the birth lottery, I had supportive parents who have been able to help me along the way. We had a welfare system that allowed me to finish my study and get a job. But it's definitely limited my choices in life.
I also had a subsequent abortion. My midwife warned me about it but I thought "I wouldn't be so stupid again." It turns out stupidity has nothing to do with it.
Was it for mental health reasons like the form from the Certifying consultant said? Hell no.
It was because I didn't want to be a single mother to two children from two different dads. And stuck on the DPB for ever.
The good thing is that my experience lead to reading more about abortion laws in New Zealand and discovering the online feminist movement.
Fast forward to now: I've been involved in pro-choice activism for the past couple of years and feel more and more passionate about it as the days go by.
This passion is fueled by my own experience, the stories I hear from individual women, and the crap that the small, but very vocal, anti-choice activists pull around the place.
Thankfully the worst one has vacated the country and moved to Texas. And while I feel extremely sad for the women that he'll harass with his "prayer sessions" outside clinics, I'm so grateful that his efforts are focused elsewhere.
Anyway, the reason I'm actually writing is that I've heard from quite a few MPs that they want to see a popular movement before they'll be prepared to put in anything reforming our restrictive abortion laws. That's all fine and lovely, but no one talks about abortion. You know why? The system we have makes you feel like crap. It makes you feel as though it's something you shouldn't be doing.
Do you know what would help remove abortion stigma? Law reform.
So it's up to you, really.
We're here to support you. We'll march, write, yell, tweet, update the hell out of our Facebook statuses, and vote for a woman's right to choose. But we need you to do the law changing.
We need you to take the lead.
Please think about it.
Kind regards,
Nikki