Another Birth Defect

I am glad to see some common sense prevailed in the case of pregnant Lithuanian tourist Jurga Skiauteris. The current immigration ruling appears to consider pregnancy of some sort of disease, purely on the spurious grounds that our maternity services are stretched. This is clearly complete nonsense as anyone on a tourist visa would attract the full costs of the pregnancy and would probably be dealt with completely outside the public health system anyway. Even the old reason for rejection – that the child would have automatic New Zealand citizenship – is no longer true. The law was changed in 2006 so that citizenship can be granted only if one of the child’s parents is a New Zealand citizen.

This particular case is especially egregious because Mrs. Skiauteris found out about her pregnancy complications after arrival and has been strongly advised against further travel until after the delivery. Kudos for Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman for intervening swiftly in a clearly unreasonable decision.

Mr. Coleman would probably be wise to allow the Korean lady to stay as well, if only in the interests of equitableness. And changing the department of immigration’s attitude towards pregnant women should be next on his list.

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