New Zealand’s Catholic bishops are urging government ministers to oppose and express their concern about the possible granting of a licence to dispense Mifepristone (Mifegyne® RU 486) with Misoprostol to cause early medical abortions.
The Hamilton Family Planning Clinic has requested the licence which, if granted, will enable RU 486 to be used with Misoprostol to produce an abortion without the need for surgical intervention.
‘This represents a major departure from their stated purpose and would inevitably make abortion easier to procure at a time when there is widespread agreement that abortion numbers in New Zealand are already far too high,’ he says.
‘Hamilton Family Planning’s proposed procedure for administering Mifepristone and Misoprostol could also place women at risk because they will abort at home without medical supervision.’
Of particular concern to the bishops is the dispensing of RU 486 and Misoprostol to girls under the age of 16 without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
‘Such a scenario is at odds with other areas of law where parents can be held responsible for their children’s actions and medical care. Parental consent is required for minor medical interventions, but not for a procedure that has distressing and severe side effects, and the possibility of long-term mental health consequences,’ says Fr McCabe.
‘Of further concern is the number of well-documented side effects, with even promoters of the drug acknowledging that it is still too new to ascertain the long-term consequences for future pregnancies.
‘In 2008 nearly 18,000 New Zealanders were killed by abortion. To make abortion even more available and to equate it with other means of family planning is a backward step in terms of reducing the numbers of abortions in New Zealand.’