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Brooke van Velden
ACT Deputy Leader and Health spokesperson
The ACT Party is offering 10 votes in support of Tamati Coffey’s ‘Improving Arrangements for Surrogacy Bill’ in the hopes it can go straight into Parliament without languishing in the biscuit tin.
New Zealand’s current laws are too complicated and full of ambiguity. We believe this Bill is a sensible way of allowing people to complete their families with protections for all of those involved in the process.
A new rule at Parliament says that if a Member of Parliament can get 61 votes for their Member’s Bill, it can go straight on the Order Paper to be debated, rather than sitting in the Ballot waiting for the luck of the draw.
The 61 votes need to come from non-Executive Members. Labour has 38, The Green Party has eight, ACT has ten. That’s 56 votes.
ACT is now calling on The Maori Party and National to do what’s right and support this life-changing Bill.
We understand many New Zealanders struggle with fertility. We also understand that surrogacy is one of the few options available to same-sex couples to complete their family.
The Bill will simplify surrogacy arrangements, ensures completeness of birth certificate information, and provides a mechanism for enforcing surrogacy arrangements.
Parliament is here to create sensible laws that improve the lives of New Zealanders. Kiwis want politicians to work constructively together. It’s a no-brainer for ACT to reach across the aisle and offer our support on this Bill. We hope five more of our colleagues will offer the same support so we can pass this law.
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