30. Supervisory Committee to set up and maintain list of certifying consultants—(1) The Supervisory Committee shall set up and maintain a list of registered medical practitioners (in this Act termed certifying consultants) who may be called upon to consider cases referred to them by any registered medical practitioner and determine, in accordance with section 33 of this Act, whether to authorise an abortion.
(2) Before drawing up the list, the Supervisory Committee shall determine the minimum number of certifying consultants required to ensure, so far as possible, that every woman seeking an abortion has her case considered expeditiously, and shall make that number of appointments in accordance with this section. Thereafter, the Committee shall keep that number under review, and shall from time to time make such further appointments, or revoke such number of appointments, as it considers necessary to meet any change in the circumstances.
(3) Having determined the number of appointments to be made, the Supervisory Committee shall consult with the New Zealand Medical Association, and may consult with any other professional or other body, before determining whom to appoint.
(4) In making appointments to the list, the Supervisory Committee shall ensure that the following requirements are met:
(a) At least one half of the total number of appointees shall be practising obstetricians or gynaecologists, and the list shall be marked in such a way as to indicate which of the appointees are so qualified:
(b) There shall be a sufficient number of appointees practising in each area of New Zealand to ensure that every woman seeking an abortion can have her case considered without involving her in considerable travelling or other inconvenience.
(5) In addition, in making such appointments, the Supervisory Committee shall have regard to the desirability of appointing medical practitioners whose assessment of cases coming before them will not be coloured by views in relation to abortion generally that are incompatible with the tenor of this Act. Without otherwise limiting the discretion of the Supervisory Committee in this regard, the following views shall be considered incompatible in that sense for the purposes of this subsection:
(a) That an abortion should not be performed in any circumstances:
(b) That the question of whether an abortion should or should not be performed in any case is entirely a matter for the woman and a doctor to decide.
(6) Every appointment to the list of certifying consultants shall be for a term of one year, but the Supervisory Committee may reappoint any practitioner on the expiry of his term.
(7) The Supervisory Committee may at any time, at its discretion, revoke the appointment of any certifying consultant.
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