It always shocks people to learn abortion is still a crime in New Zealand – we were, after all, the first country to enfranchise women. But an overhaul of our laws are desperately needed, and, be still my heart, abortion law reform could actually be an issue at the coming election.

Politicians continue to infantilise women’s opinions about reproductive options and downplay how difficult the reality of accessing abortion services across Queensland is.

I live in the US now, and watch with a growing sense of fear and horror as women’s rights to reproductive care are gradually, methodically, stripped away by the states. Abortion clinics are closed; women are made to wait unreasonable periods of time and travel impossible distances; women in some states are forced to undergo an ultrasound before they can get an abortion, which is not very different from being raped with a thing they euphemistically call a wand, with its magic powers of showing you your own insides.