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1 March 2024
Stephan Hokke
[FYI request #25794 email]
Our ref: OIA 109863
Tēnā koe Stephan
Official Information Act request: Abortion Legislation Act 2020
Thank you for your email of 20 February requesting, under the Of icial Information Act 1982
(the Act), information regarding the Abortion Legislation Act 2020 (ALA Act). Specifically, you
requested:
In 2020 the Parliamentary Counsel Office may have sent you communications on
abortion and the extending of the term of abortion beyond 20 weeks. There should
have been a request to submit to the PCO on the liabilities, legalities, precedences of
turning over the right to abort out of the hands of the Judiciary and into the hands of
Health and perhaps in that or another submission your advice on extending the
abortion term beyond 20 weeks. I would like to request the following information under
the OIA: 1) a copy of your submission(s) to the PCO, 2) all drafts, advice, and internal
communications (including emails) relating to submission(s)
Before answering your request, I would like to provide you with background information on
why administration of the ALA Act was transferred from the Ministry of Justice (the Ministry)
to the Ministry of Health (MOH). This information has been taken from correspondence sent
to the then Prime Minister, by the then Minister of Justice and Minister of Health. I have
appended a copy of this correspondence for you, released in full.
Prior to the enactment of the ALA Act, the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act
1977 (CSA Act) was administered by the Ministry. This was because, with the exceptions
outlined in the CSA Act, abortion was a criminal matter under the Crimes Act 1961. The
Ministry also provided administrative support to the Abortion Supervisory Commit ee (ASC),
which regulated hospitals where abortions were carried out, as well as approving the
certifying consultants who were required to decide whether a woman could receive an
abortion.
The intent of the ALA Act was to make abortion a health service by decriminalising abortion
by removing certain offences in the Crimes Act. It also disestablished the ASC and
transferred oversight and monitoring of abortion services to the MOH. Therefore, once the
ALA Act came into force on 24 March 2020, it was agreed that it was more appropriate for
responsibility for the CSA Act to sit with the Minister of Health and MOH. The Minister of
Health and the Director-General of Health have statutory obligations under the CSA Act in
relation to the provision of contraception, sterilisation and abortion services. As MOH
administers other health legislation, transferring administration of the CSA Act was
consistent with aligning the provision of abortion services with other health services.
You can find more information about the Abortion Legislation Bil at:
bil s.parliament.nz/v/6/63430ae5-e486-4350-897e-f88fc518b1b7?Tab=history. The advice
officials provided to the Select Commit ee is available on that website, alongside the
submissions received.
The relevant Cabinet papers have been proactively released at:
justice.govt.nz/assets/7607-
Taking-a-Health-Approach-8012-Approval-for-Introduction-Abortion-proactive-release.pdf
The Law Commission report that preceded the Cabinet decisions and Bil is also available at:
lawcom.govt.nz/our-work/alternative-approaches-to-abortion-law/
In response to parts 1 and 2 of your request, I must advise that the information sought does
not exist. We did not provide a submission to the Parliamentary Counsel Of ice. I am
therefore refusing your request under section 18(e) of the Act.
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry website at: justice.govt.nz/about/official-information-act-requests/oia-responses/.
If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. The Office of the Ombudsman may be
contacted by email to [email address] or by phone on 0800 802 602.
Nāku noa, nā
Kathy Brightwell
General Manager, Civil & Constitutional
1982
ACT
INFORMATION
OFFICIAL
THE
UNDER
RELEASED
