Perhaps the biggest deception touted by some proponents of this bill was that this would decriminalise women, knowing full well that no woman ever, in New Zealand, was criminalised. We hear that women will no longer face the stigma and will no longer have to lie about the reason for having an abortion, as if women will now proceed to have guilt-free abortions on demand as though they are merely having an appendectomy. No law can alleviate guilt. No law will stop women who have abortions from feeling the full weight of the decision they have made. This proposed law will not change that, and this is because we all have a moral conscience, regardless of what is written in the law. 