ABSTRACT
This chapter takes the case of New Zealand, as the nature of its abortion regime has been extremely restrictive in law as a result of very specific kinds of mobilisation and political manoeuvring. Religious mobilisation despite the state’s secular and multicultural nature was strong but differed in method from the other cases we’ve seen of religious involvement in state functioning. It also addresses indigeneity and abortion and discusses Māori conceptualisations of identity, cultural practice, and forms of meaning making within New Zealand’s history of colonisation and what this has meant for contemporary realities, especially when reproductive justice also entails the right to determine the conditions of one’s birthing process. Keeping in mind that the nation passed a law decriminalising abortion and allowing for abortion on demand in 2020, it was an inclusion that could preclude omission.
