ISSUES
High rates of Māori abortion
What's going on?
Māori rates of abortion far surpass abortion rates in the population as a whole.
In 2017, 3,111 Māori women had an abortion. This number represents 23% of all abortions performed in 2017, though Māori make up only 15% of the population.
While the crude abortion rate across all of New Zealand was 2.8 abortions per 1000 people in the population, among Māori that rate jumps to about 4.6 abortions per 1000 Māori – an increase of 65%.
Māori rates of abortion far surpass abortion rates in the population as a whole.
In 2017, 3,111 Māori women had an abortion. This number represents 23% of all abortions performed in 2017, though Māori make up only 15% of the population.
While the crude abortion rate across all of New Zealand was 2.8 abortions per 1000 people in the population, among Māori that rate jumps to about 4.6 abortions per 1000 Māori – an increase of 65%.
Why should we care?
We rightly worry when we hear that Māori are disproportionately present in statistics that demonstrate societal and policy failure: unemployment, educational failure, imprisonment, poverty. But society and policy makers have been very silent about disproportionately high rates of Māori abortion.
Why are Māori women over-represented in abortion statistics? What impact is this high abortion rate having on Māori women? What impact is it having on Māori whānau and their whakapapa? Why are Māori women aborting their unborn at a higher rate than the general population? Not only do we not have answers to these questions – we’re not even asking them.
And why is the Law Commission encouraging the establishment of more abortion clinics in areas with large populations of Māori?
We rightly worry when we hear that Māori are disproportionately present in statistics that demonstrate societal and policy failure: unemployment, educational failure, imprisonment, poverty. But society and policy makers have been very silent about disproportionately high rates of Māori abortion.
Why are Māori women over-represented in abortion statistics? What impact is this high abortion rate having on Māori women? What impact is it having on Māori whānau and their whakapapa? Why are Māori women aborting their unborn at a higher rate than the general population? Not only do we not have answers to these questions – we’re not even asking them.
And why is the Law Commission encouraging the establishment of more abortion clinics in areas with large populations of Māori?
What can we do about it?
- Invest governmental resources into qualitative research into the reasons why Māori women have abortions
- Include reporting on Māori abortion rates in social development reporting on the state of Māori welfare
- Provide more support to iwi and community groups working with wahine and their whānau so that they know that they have the support necessary to carry and raise their pēpi
For more information see: Jade Le Grice, Māori and Reproduction, Sexuality Education, Maternity and Abortion, PhD Thesis (2014) University of Auckland.
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