Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004

Preliminary provisions

4: Principles

You could also call this:

"Guiding rules to keep people safe and respected when making decisions about assisted reproduction"

Illustration for Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004

When you are making decisions about assisted reproductive procedures, you must think about the health and well-being of the children who may be born. You must also consider the health, safety, and dignity of people now and in the future.

You need to remember that women are often more affected by these procedures than men, so their health and well-being must be protected.

You must get informed consent from someone before performing an assisted reproductive procedure on them or doing research on them. Donor offspring have the right to know about their genetic origins and access that information.

When making decisions, you should respect the needs, values, and beliefs of Māori and consider the different ethical, spiritual, and cultural perspectives in society.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM319248.

Topics:
Health and wellbeing > Public healthHealth and wellbeing > Healthcare servicesRights and equality > PrivacyFamily and relationships > Children and parentingMāori affairs > Treaty of Waitangi
Previous

3: Purposes, or

"What the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004 is trying to achieve"

Next

5: Interpretation, or

"What special words in the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004 mean"

Part 1Preliminary provisions

4Principles

  1. All persons exercising powers or performing functions under this Act must be guided by each of the following principles that is relevant to the particular power or function:

  2. the health and well-being of children born as a result of the performance of an assisted reproductive procedure or an established procedure should be an important consideration in all decisions about that procedure:
    1. the human health, safety, and dignity of present and future generations should be preserved and promoted:
      1. while all persons are affected by assisted reproductive procedures and established procedures, women, more than men, are directly and significantly affected by their application, and the health and well-being of women must be protected in the use of these procedures:
        1. no assisted reproductive procedure should be performed on an individual and no human reproductive research should be conducted on an individual unless the individual has made an informed choice and given informed consent:
          1. donor offspring should be made aware of their genetic origins and be able to access information about those origins:
            1. the needs, values, and beliefs of Māori should be considered and treated with respect:
              1. the different ethical, spiritual, and cultural perspectives in society should be considered and treated with respect.