How legal abortion came to New Zealand

  1. Introduction
  2. The Situation Today
  3. How legal abortion came to New Zealand
  4. Overseas influences
  5. Media Influences
  6. Opponents of abortion get organized
  7. The Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child
  8. Early expansion
  9. Capital politics
  10. First clinic licenced
  11. The tide turns
  12. Pro-abortion initiatives
  13. A crucial court decision
  14. The Status of the Unborn Child Bill
  15. Seeking urgency
  16. Counter move
  17. The Vote
  18. SPUC moves on
So called "backstreet" abortions were available, particularly during the Depression era in the 1930s. Another alternative were "backdoor" abortions by doctors prepared to provide discreet services in their surgeries.

But in general, single girls and young women who found themselves pregnant were directed to a support network of farms, households, or church-run institutions, until their babies were born and given up for adoption.