Early expansion

  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
By March 1971, Professor Liley and Dr Dunn had inspired 15,000 people to join SPUC. Although not formed into a national body at that stage, Professor Liley was president, Dr Dunn, vice-president and editor of the newsletter. During its first year, SPUC enjoyed regular media coverage.

In July 1971, SPUC brought Mrs Jill Knight, a 'pro-life' British Conservative MP to talk about the negative effect abortion was having in Britain, as she saw it. She had four television appearances, eight radio sessions, and 16 newspaper and magazine interviews. Jill Knight met MPs and spoke at well-attended public meetings in the four main centres.

By the beginning of 1972, there were 24 branches with about 20,000 members. A national conference was held in March, to officially launch the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child.

In 1973, the first national conference was held in Auckland in March, followed by an evening march down Queen St on July 13. Organised by Auckland University's Right to Life group, the march attracted an estimated 4,500 people, but was virtually ignored by the media.