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Abortion in New Zealand is legal in cases where the pregnant woman faces a danger to her life, physical or mental health, or if there is a risk of the fetus being handicapped, in the event of the continuation of her pregnancy. In cases not protected by these grounds, aborting an unborn child is a crime in New Zealand under the Crimes Act 1961. Regulations in New Zealand require that abortions after 12 weeks gestation be performed in a "licensed institution", which is generally understood to be a hospital. Abortions must be approved by two doctors (referred to as "certifying consultants" within the legislation), one of whom must be a gynaecologist or obstetrician. Counselling is optional if the woman desires it, but is not mandatory under current abortion law. There is no statutory definition of fetuses or embryos as "unborn children" within New Zealand abortion law. ==History== Abortion was criminalised in New Zealand by the UK Offences against the Person Act 1861, adopted in New Zealand in 1866. Laws enacted around this time acknowledged the danger to women of undergoing an illegal abortion. The 1893 Criminal Code Act made the punishments for illegal abortion a maximum of seven years imprisonment for the women and life for the doctor. Abortions were illegal until the late 1930s.〔(Encyclopedia of New Zealand: Abortion ). Accessed 2012-12-13.〕 The 1936 Committee of Enquiry headed by D.G. McMillan reported that one in five pregnancies in New Zealand resulted in an induced abortion. Some pregnant women died, were injured or infected, or abused by practitioners of illegal abortion. Historically, the death rate was high. Statistics of women who went to hospital after an abortion went wrong show that in 1934 at least 42 women died.〔 In the 1930s Isabel Annie Aves was tried four times for "unlawfully using an instrument with intent to procure a miscarriage" without conviction. From the 1940s activists such as Alice Bush advocated for access to doctor-provided abortions.〔Faye Hercock: ''Alice: The Making of A Woman Doctor: 1914-1974'': Auckland University Press: 1999: ISBN 1-86940-206-5.〕 Public debate increased following the legalisation of abortion in Britain in 1967 and in South Australia in 1969. The legalisation of abortion in Australia enabled New Zealand women who could afford to travel to have abortions in Australia. After the Royal Commission on Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion, Parliament passed the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Abortion in New Zealand」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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