Abortion requests rejected for 2500 women in the last decade

More than 2500 women have been told their request for an abortion was "not justified" in the past decade, new figures reveal.

A Stuff Circuit investigation into the abortion debate, Big Decision, looked at cases where certifying consultants refused to sign off a termination.

Data released by the Abortion Supervisory Committee under the Official Information Act shows the number of "not justified" certificates has remained about the same each year since 2009, even as the total number of abortions has dropped.

Under the current law, two certifying consultants must be satisfied the woman seeking an abortion meets certain grounds.

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Most abortions are carried out on the grounds that continuing with the pregnancy would cause serious danger to the woman's mental health.

Since 2009, certifying consultants have refused to authorise an abortion in 2566 cases. In those cases, the woman is then referred to a third certifying consultant, the committee says.

It is not known how many abortions were ultimately refused.

President of the Abortion Law Reform Association, Terry Bellamak, said the figures painted only part of the picture.

"How many people became discouraged and did not go on to find another certifying consultant? How many were not able to convince the third certifying consultant, and had to carry a pregnancy against their will and against their interests?

"How many people gave up before they even saw certifying consultants because of long distances, inability to pay for travel expenses … or difficulties in arranging child care for the children they already have"', she said.

A spokeswoman for Voice for Life said they did not want to comment without knowing more about the figures, including why the "not justified" certificates were issued.

The Government is considering changes to the abortion laws for the first time in 40 years, with proposals due to go to Cabinet soon.

Justice Minister Andrew Little, in charge of the proposal because abortion currently sits under the Crimes Act, told Stuff Circuit he believes the certifying consultant system puts in place unnecessary delays and is unfair to women.

"I think the law assumes actually that women are generally incapable of making this decision without this extraordinary level of assistance and then being required to go through delay and various hoops because actually they can't be trusted to make that decision," Little said.

"And to the extent that the law assumes that and reflects that, it is wrong and it should change."

The Law Commission has proposed three alternatives for the Government to consider, with each scrapping the need for women to see two consultants.

National MP Simon O'Connor, who once trained as a Catholic priest and opposes abortion, told Stuff Circuit he did not agree with any of the reform proposals set out by the commission.

"Being pro life I can't accept the concept overall," he said.

Any vote in Parliament will be a conscience issue, meaning MPs will not have to vote along party lines.

To gauge current thinking around abortion, Stuff Circuit sent an anonymous online survey to every MP, but there was a low response rate with only 25 per cent answering, likely a reflection of the contentious nature of the issue.

Almost all who did respond were in favour of the need to reform the laws - there was one against and one "don't know".

More than half of respondents preferred the commission's "Model C" which would leave a decision to have an abortion to the woman, until 22 weeks after which it would require a doctor's sign-off.