The march in Wellington on Friday 12 February was covered in the Gisborne Herald on 15 Feb, 2010 – a scan of the article is below, followed by text.

March to stop ‘abortion pill’

WELLINGTON — Hundreds braved the wild Wellington weather to express their concern at the Family Planning Association (FPA)application for a licence to perform abortions in their clinics.
Stop Family Planning was pleased at the turnout at Friday’s march from Civic Square to the steps of Parliament organised to oppose the FPA’s application for an abortion licence.
March organiser and Stop Family Planning spokesperson Simeon Brown said that the turnout indicated strong support for their call for the Abortion Supervisory Committee to deny the FPA an abortion licence to kill babies with the dangerous abortifacient, Mifepristone (RU-486).
Currently, 18,000 abortions are committed in New Zealand every year.
“We all agree that too many abortions are occurring in New Zealand. If this application is approved it will only increase that number,” Mr Brown said.
“The voice of New Zealand is clear. The Abortion Supervisory Committee must deny the FPA a licence to kill pre-born children up to 9weeks.”
Stop Family Planning will continue to oppose the FPA being granted an abortion licence.
In an open letter to Prime Minister John Key and Health Minister Tony Ryall, Mr Brown and Prolife NZ spokesperson Lydia Moore asked they do whatever they could to disallow a licence to the FPA to committ abortions in their clinics.
“The FPA is New Zealand’s primary sexual health educator, which means there is a conflict of interest: they may be biased in their educating as performing abortions will be part of their service,” the letter said.
The march was also supported by Family First NZ, ProLife NZ and Right to Life.
Bob McCoskrie, national director of Family First NZ says this will mean that Family Planning will be able to talk women into having abortions, and then carry the procedure out on them.
“There is a huge conflict of interest here. Those offering advice should not be the ones performing the abortions,” Mr McCoskrie said.
“There is also huge concern about the drug’s considerable harmful effects on women’s health, with a US track record that includes deaths and over 1000 reports of complications — many of them serious or life-threatening. RU-486 has produced none of the effects of normalising abortion that were predicted for it.”
The US FDA has released reports of complications including death resulting from:
• haemorrhage (excessive bleeding)
• serious and sometimes fatal infections
• missed diagnoses of ectopic pregnancy (outside the uterus, usually in the fallopian tube).
Up to 10 percent of women will still require surgical abortions to complete the process and there have been at least five deaths in the US that resulted directly from severe infection in the blood stream of women who took RU-486 orally.
Edouard Sakiz, chairman of Roussel Uclaf, the company that first marketed RU-486 said: “As abortifacient procedures go, RU-486 is not at all easy to use
. . . a woman who wants to end her pregnancy has to ‘live’ with her abortion for at least a week using this technique. It’s an appalling psychological ordeal.”
And Dr. Etienne-Emile Baulieu, the inventor of RU-486 said: “It’s insulting to women to say that abortion now will be as easy as taking aspirins. It is always difficult, psychologically and physically, sometimes tragic.”
Family First is calling for informed consent — including ultrasound — for women considering an abortion, and a ‘cooling period’ before making the decision.
They also want parental notification for teenagers who are seeking an abortion.
“We believe women and teenage girls are entitled to the truth when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, including all the options available.
“They should not be exploited by Family Planning who have a conflict of interest, including a financial conflict of interest,” says Mr McCoskrie.
Prolife NZ spokesperson Lydia Moore was one of the speakers to address the rally at Parliament. Right to Life also supported the march.
The FPA declined to be interviewed on TVNZ with Mr Brown.