New Zealand: Paid leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth

It’s the parents’ worst blow of fate: the lovingly designed children’s room and the baby’s toddler bed are still empty, the journey home from the hospital made by two people instead of three, the baby, waits with love and longing born dead. Awarded to give mournful husbands the opportunity to relax a little New Zealand Them now Funeral leaveThat is, up to three days Paid leave in the event of miscarriage or stillbirth.

New Zealand: Paid leave after abortion and birthdays

As reported by The New Zealand Herald, the New Zealand Parliament has decided to grant the couple paid leave of up to three days in the event of a miscarriage or stillbirth. This option is available not only to the mother, but also to her partner and parents who have planned to conceive a child through adoption or surrogacy.

In New Zealand, stillbirths are considered abortions up to the 20th week of pregnancy. Newborns from the 21st week of pregnancy are considered stillbirths. According to the New Zealand College of Midwives, an average of one in four women will have a miscarriage.

According to policy by Jenny Andersen, on whose behalf the new law was passed, private leave is intended to give women and their partners the opportunity to cope with their losses without having to take sick leave.

“I hope the new regulation will give people time to grieve and encourage an open approach to the issue of abortion,” the politician wrote on Twitter. “We shouldn’t be afraid of our own bodies.”

New Zealand: Leading the way in women’s rights

Progressive New Zealand is taking another important step in women’s rights with the option to take paid funeral leave after death or abortion. So far, hardly any other country has such regulation. Although women who have had a miscarriage have been allowed up to six weeks of paid leave in India since 1961, Söddeutsche Zeitung reports that they often do not take it due to precarious working conditions. In Iceland, spouses can take up to two months of paid leave after an abortion, and up to three months in the event of a stillbirth.

There is no such regulation in Germany: here, affected women can only take sick leave. In the case of abortion after the twelfth week of pregnancy, pregnancy-related protection against dismissal applies, in the case of stillbirth after the twenty-fifth week of pregnancy, maternity protection. Unlike New Zealand, a pregnant partner does not take a special leave.

New Zealand is once again an example to follow when it comes to women’s rights. There has also been good news recently from Europe: The European Union has declared itself a free zone for LGBT people. Such decisions are increasingly important at times when many countries prefer to take a step back rather than move forward when it comes to equality: Turkey has pulled out Just from the Istanbul Convention, which is a convention against violence against women. On the other hand, the US state of Arkansas wants to ban abortions even after rape or incest.

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