Twenty years ago, as she stepped outside an abortion clinic in Christchurch, then-14-year-old Jenna* says she was confronted by “a sea of people” protesting.
"My mum had to drive our car through, I can see it in my head now, a sea of people with signs who were yelling. In my mind, they're like pitchforks. And I remember them banging on the window saying things to me like 'abortion is murder'," Jenna told 1News.
"That became the most traumatic thing about having a termination… I remember being 14, turning into my mum driving through these protesters, tears streaming down my face wondering, 'why do they do that?'"
That experience was part of the reason she welcomed a new law about to come into force that could restrict protest behaviour in areas immediately outside buildings that provided abortions.
Labour MP Louisa Wall's member’s bill passed its third reading in Parliament on Wednesday night with 108 votes in favour and 12 against.
Once in force, the bill bans protest action in “safe zones” of up to 150 metres around abortion services, if they apply for it. The bill would also prohibit obstructing or filming people seeking or providing abortion services within the zones if it was likely to cause distress.
Jenna said a safe area around clinics would make it "one little bit less tough" for people who had to make the difficult choice.
As a 14-year-old, Jenna said it took some time for her to come to a decision after she fell pregnant with her boyfriend. She eventually came to the conclusion, while taking a break away from Christchurch with her mum, that she was too young to have a child.
"I remember driving home and the first billboard I'd seen was 'abortion is murder', and that stabbed me right in the guts. I was thinking, wow, it's like murder for this child or it's murder for me and my life and my future."
Jenna went to her local clinic, which used to be on a main road in Christchurch. She said when she went for consultations about abortion, there wasn't anyone protesting outside.
But, according to Jenna, there were more than a dozen were outside and around the corner of the street on the day of her termination. She said it was likely they knew which days people were getting consultations and which days procedures were happening.
The fact she could still vividly recall what happened decades ago showed how traumatic the experience was, she said.
Her mum Maria* also remembered that day well.
"I remember yelling at them out the window. They have no idea what people's circumstances are.
"That's why I took offence because I know what everyone else will be thinking… they make it up in their heads."
Family Planning welcomes new law
Family Planning chief executive Jackie Edmond said in a statement the new law was "another positive step toward equitable access to abortion services" because it "recognises abortion as a health service that people should be able to access".
"Protest against this right to access abortion has no place at clinics where they are intimidating and can be upsetting," she said.
Edmond said protests outside abortion providers also raised questions about a person's privacy when accessing health care services.
"I cannot think of another example where people accessing a health service are watched by another group of people when trying to access the service."
Recent research for New Zealand's National Council of Women showed Kiwis "overwhelmingly support the right to choose to have or not have an abortion", she added.
'I do live with that decision'
Jenna went on to study midwifery.
In that role, she said she "encouraged women to make the decisions that are right for them".
Abortion services were now offered at Christchurch Hospital, which meant there was less of a chance people accessing abortion services would be harassed, Jenna said.
"But there are other clinics where that's definitely not the case."
In Hagley Park next to the hospital, a handful of anti-abortion protesters turned up weekly with signs. Jenna sometimes saw them when she would go to work at the hospital.
"Sometimes we get a bit frustrated with it. You'll see other people standing there with other signs counter-protesting. But, it's right outside our women's hospital."
As for herself, Jenna said her story did end up having a "happy" ending.
"That 14-year-old grew into an adult and I've gone on to marry that man who got me pregnant at 14. We have three beautiful children together.
"You don't ever get over the decision to have a termination, and I do live with that decision.
"But, it served its purpose in a way that I'm not sure that my family would be this way and I know that myself and my career would not be this way if I was going to have a baby at 14."
*Names have been changed to protect identities.
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