Statement from Family Life International:

New research from the highly regarded Cochrane Library Review shows that increased access to the morning-after pill (also known as the emergency contraceptive pill) does nothing to reduce the rate of teenage pregnancy or abortion.

This new research has shown that while use of emergency contraception doubled over a six year period in the UK, it failed to reduce rates of teenage pregnancy or abortion.

The research also found that, over a six year period, the number of women requesting abortions after using the morning-after pill had doubled from 6% to 12%.

"This latest research shows the New Zealand is wasting its time by trying to implement similar strategies here" says Family Life International media spokesperson, Brendan Malone.

"This latest research just adds to previous research showing the colossal failure of this sort of strategy; like the report that was published in August 2008 showing that the Swedish abortion rate had risen by approximately 17% despite more than five years of having emergency contraception available as a non-prescription drug."

"If New Zealand health authorities continue down this flawed path of offering free and easy access to the morning-after pill, they are simply wasting vital funds that could be better spent elsewhere" says Brendan Malone.