Catholic bishops in New Zealand are urging the nation’s government to ease the stress on young families, saying financial strains have increased abortions in the country.
Abortion became easier to obtain after the Abortion Legislation Act was made law in 2020.
The number of abortions in New Zealand peaked at 18,511 in 2003 before falling steadily to 12,823 in 2016. This number rose slowly after that year, but then jumped to 14,164 in 2022.
The bishops’ conference noted the number of abortions for each 1,000 known pregnancies has risen to 193 from a low of 177 in 2016.
