National leader Christopher Luxon doubled down on his commitment not to change New Zealand's abortion laws in light of the overturning of Roe v Wade by the Supreme Court in the US.
It comes amid social media speculation around the party's stance, after National MP Simon O'Connor posted on Facebook that 'Today is a good day', with red love hearts as the background.
Luxon told 1News that "personally, I've got a 'pro-life' position but the reality is in New Zealand there is no need for us to change the laws".
Abortion reform was passed into law in early 2020 during the last term of Government. It removed it from the Crimes Act as well as removing the statutory test for a person who is less than 20 weeks pregnant. It also allowed a woman to self-refer to an abortion provider.
Sixty-eight MPs voted in favour, 51 of those voted against during the third reading.
Luxon said overturning of Roe v Wade was "incredibly shocking and incredibly distressing".
"I'm very grateful we don't have that position here in New Zealand."
"I want women in New Zealand to have absolute certainty that when I'm the Prime Minister of New Zealand in a National Government that they know our abortion laws are not going to be re-litigated or re-visited, that they know that funding for those health services are going to be maintained."
When asked if O'Connor voluntarily took the post down, Luxon said they had a "good conversation about it, he could see it was possibly insensitive and it was not representative of the National Party perspective".
"He can express his views personally, but that is not the view of the National Party. There is one view in the National Party and that is that we're not relitigating or not revisiting the laws. In our party we have pro-life, pro-choice views, people with a range of opinions on a range of topics, as we expect as we like to have in the National Party.
"That view was being interpreted as the National Party position. I want to be clear, that's not the National Party position."
Numerous MPs spoke out against the overturning of Roe v Wade. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called it incredibly upsetting, Green Party's Golriz Ghahraman said she was heart broken for America and ACT deputy Brooke van Velden said it was "distressing that a young woman in the USA will now have fewer rights than her mother or grandmother and, depending on where she lives, be forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term".
"Sadly, this will impact the education, career, and financial futures of many women."
On Twitter, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta called the overturning "draconian and does not support the right of women to choice... How can this happen?" Many people pointed out that Mahuta voted against abortion reform in New Zealand during the second and third readings. Mahuta voted in favour during the first reading.
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