Here are some hard facts about an unborn baby.
After only five weeks the baby has a beating heart. At just 12 weeks most organs have formed. By 14 weeks the baby’s gender is known. Movement may be felt by the mother between 16-20 weeks and at 20 weeks the baby has a chance of survival outside of the uterus.
Despite these facts, the unborn baby is not legally considered a human being in New Zealand until birth and is vulnerable to being aborted at any stage of the pregnancy.
Contrast this though with the Te Urewera forest, the Whanganui river and, more recently, Mount Taranaki which have been granted personhood at law along with the rights and responsibilities of human beings.
If someone abuses or harms Mount Taranaki it’s counted as harming the tribe who consider it to be their ancestor and whanau. However, five week old babies with beating hearts, and even fully formed babies about to be born, may legally be terminated. They have no legal redress. Neither do their fathers wishing to protect them.
God says of the prophet Jeremiah, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet. The Bible talks of John the Baptist being filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb. God clearly gives recognition to the unborn.
If forests, rivers and mountains can be granted personhood and meaningful legal rights then surely NZ law can grant unborn children the same?