National's Nicola Willis has let loose on Labour for its "ridiculous" conduct since Christopher Luxon signalled his party would reintroduce prescription fees for contraception if elected.
Willis said she was personally offended by some of Labour's response and made it clear National would not remove any rights women currently have. It could look to "enhance" some, she said, like potentially greater subsidies for longer-acting contraceptives.
After Luxon's comment on Wednesday afternoon, Labour MPs attacked National, calling it "out of touch" and suggesting some comparison between National's position and the situation in The Handmaid's Tale TV show.
That's despite there currently being $5 fees on prescriptions. There has been throughout Labour's time in power. Labour's removal of the fee doesn't happen until July 1.
Megan Woods, who posted an image from The Handmaid's Tale, has denied she went too far.
Speaking to reporters in Parliament on Thursday afternoon, Willis ripped into Labour.
"This is about a Government that got down into the gutter and is getting into completely ridiculous, baseless attacks," she said.
"Chris Hipkins got the chapter titled political kindness and he's slapped it shut. He has put Megan Woods out there on a complete scare campaign that frankly, I find, is completely irresponsible. For her to liken what are the current settings in New Zealand to something from The Handmaid's Tale is frankly appalling.
"If this is the kind of campaign that Labour wants to have then they are going to put a lot of New Zealanders off because there are some big issues facing our country. Let's have real debates about real policy issues, not manufactured issues."
Willis said National wasn't proposing any change to women's current entitlements to contraception, including their access to free contraception clinics or subsidised birth control.
She said National wants to "enhance" those rights and could remove the prescription fee for lower-income people.
"What we have said is that we just don't think there should be free access to all prescriptions for everyone on every income. We are also looking, and I have spoken to our health spokesperson Dr Shane Reti about this, at whether or not there are some longer-acting contraceptives that should be more heavily subsidised than they are at the moment."
Willis said Dr Reti was already looking at this "well before Megan Woods discovered Handmaid's Tale memes on the internet".
The National deputy leader said she was personally offended by Woods' response.
"To have my party likened to a terrible kind of apocalyptic show, is just pathetic really. It's the kind of thing that if my kids did to each other at primary school, I would say, c'mon, don't be so dirty, actually talk about the issues, be sensible, grow up a little bit."
Woods stood by her response of posting a The Handmaid's Tale image.
"What we have seen is that Labour made a decision in Budget 23 that we were going to make sure that all women had access to free contraceptives. National have made it clear that it is not a priority for them and it is not a choice that they would continue with."
When asked why Labour hasn't removed the fee until now, Woods said: "There are lots of things that we want to do."
"The fact of the matter is that we are the party that in Budget 23 made that commitment to New Zealand women, made that choice and from July 1 New Zealand women will have access to free contraceptives."
Following the Budget 2023 announcement that the Government will remove the $5 charge on July 1, National said it would reinstate the co-payment fee for prescriptions but create carve-outs for Super Gold card holders and low-income people with the Community Services cards.
On Wednesday, Luxon said the party wasn't looking at a carve-out for those needing contraception prescriptions.
"We don't want to see any change … We are making sure we can help with people who desperately need help with their prescription charges. We want a targeted approach."
He did not consider people needing regular contraception prescriptions filled as having "high medical needs".
In the aftermath of Luxon's comment, Labour MPs criticised National online, calling it "out of touch", "unbelievable" and suggesting "women should be very concerned".
Woods, Labour's campaign chair, tweeted out an image from The Handmaid's Tale a show about a Christian fundamentalist theocratic regime in an alternative former United States that oppresses women.
Labour minister Andrew Little wrote on Instagram that National "want to stop womens' access to contraception", despite that not being what National wants to do.
On Thursday morning, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the National Party needs to "move into the 21st century".
"I think the 1950s called and they want their National Party back," the National leader said.
A $5 fee on prescriptions is the current setting. It has been throughout Labour's rule, but Budget 2023 included an announcement to abolish the charge from July 1. It's estimated to cost $618.6 million over four years.
Asked if concern about the $5 fee had been expressed by Labour MPs since Labour's been in power, Hipkins said his party was removing the charge.
"I think it's a step forward and the National Party want to take a step back," he said.
Following the Budget announcement, Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall said: "The $5 charge can be a barrier to some New Zealanders getting the medicines they need and this is especially the case at a time when people are facing increasing pressures on household budgets."
"As a doctor, there were times when my patients did not collect their medication and, in fact, we know more than 135,000 adults did not collect their prescription because of cost in 2021‑22. This is particularly the case for low-income families, Māori, Pasifika peoples and disabled New Zealanders."
