Our first-ever recipient of the Wooden Spoon Award goes to abortion-up-till-birth supporter Green MP Jan Logie.
Jan Logie wins this week’s Wooden Spoon Award for failing to pay attention when it came time to vote.
[…] MPs seemed unprepared for a second vote on the substance of his changes – doing away with all the provisions that would put safe zones in place.
Up for debate were 150-metre safe zones that could be established around abortion clinics on a case-by-case basis, to prohibit intimidating or interfering behaviour.
That second vote was on removing all the legal provisions for safe zones, including the ways in which the police could administer them so as to protect women from harassment as they sought abortions.
That vote, to delete sections 15 through 17 of the bill, was taken in a voice vote only, and it passed – rendering the definition of ‘safe area’ redundant in the law.
Deputy Speaker Anne Tolley passed it on a verbal vote.
Green MP Jan Logie immediately asked for clarification on what had happened.
“Can I just check the vote and how it evolved around David Seymour’s SOP (Supplementary Order Papers) and what the outcome of that vote … I just wanted to check and to see if I needed to change my vote”.
Tolley advised it was a “vote on the voices” and the “amendment was agreed to”.
Logie sought leave for a personal vote, but this was rejected.
Justice Minister Andrew Little also seemed confused, and said to Tolley that they “voted on 464 earlier this evening”.
She clarified that they had only voted on one part of it.
Seymour said the safe zones would have set a dangerous precedent around freedom of expression.
[…] Seymour said he thought it would be a close vote, but didn’t expect it to play out like this.
[…] to have a law where a minister can declare no free speech in an area almost on a whim, is not the kind of law I came to Parliament to make,” Seymour said.
rnz.co.nz
If you enjoyed this BFD article please consider sharing it with your friends.