Christopher Luxon has accused Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson of trying to create a "distraction" after he criticised the National leader's views on abortion.
Robertson hit out at Luxon on Monday accusing him of trying to hide his true feelings about abortion for political benefit.
It comes after the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling which recognised the constitutional right to an abortion and legalised it nationwide.
Removing abortion as a constitutional right leaves it up to each state as to whether or how it may restrict it. The decision saw several states implement immediate bans, forcing women to travel long distances to access reproductive healthcare.
Robertson, who has publicly criticised the ruling, told AM Luxon needed to make his views on abortion clear, given last year he said he believes it's tantamount to murder.
"I think New Zealanders need to ask themselves what Christopher Luxon's stance on abortion actually is, he managed to put out two statements in two days over the weekend and previously he's said that abortion is akin to murder," Robertson told AM's Melissa Chan-Green on Monday.
"New Zealanders know where Jacinda Ardern and Labour stand on this, we decriminalised abortion, we put it into a health setting and while Mr Luxon might be saying convenient political things now, I think people know where he really stands and obviously people will judge on what he says as well as his actions."
When Chan-Green pointed out Luxon had been very clear abortion law wouldn't be revisited if he were to become Prime Minister, Robertson said the leader needed to clarify what that actually means.
"Does that mean he will make sure that all National members don't bring forward a private members' bill? Would he make sure that it wasn't part of the coalition? The issue for Christopher Luxon here is he said what he believes about abortion and now he's spinning to tell New Zealanders a different story."
Speaking with AM on Wednesday, Luxon said he had been very clear the law wouldn't be changed under National, despite him having anti-abortion views.
"What I am very grateful about is here in New Zealand we have a completely different process when we discuss abortion law, as we did in 2019 and 2020, we opened that up, we debated it, we voted on it, we took public and expert opinions and submissions, we voted and we locked that law down.
"That law is not changing and I am being very clear about that and I've been very clear about that even before this issue - under a National Government there is no relitigation, no revisiting, no changes to those laws, no change in funding to those services. I want women in New Zealand to have maximum certainty that there will be absolutely no change."
Luxon accused Robertson of trying to create a distraction from issues such as the cost of living crisis, healthcare system issues, poor academic performance and rising crime.
"We've got a lot of challenges and I can understand why people like Grant Robertson want to create a distraction around another issue. But I would say, 'Focus on the day job and let's get some outcomes for New Zealanders'."
When challenged by Chan-Green over whether it was fair to call abortion "a distraction" when it is a healthcare issue that many people care about, Luxon said he has already been very clear about his views.
"They are legitimate questions but I have been answering them well before Roe v Wade and I have answered them again this week. I can't be any clearer, there will be no relitigation no revisiting of those laws."
Luxon has yet to confirm whether he will gag MPs from putting forward private members' bills on the issue. But on Tuesday anti-abortion National MP Simon O'Connor said Luxon wouldn't tell any MPs what bills they could or couldn't put forward.
O'Connor, who was heavily criticised after putting up a post celebrating the overturning of Roe v Wade, said he himself had no plans to revisit New Zealand's abortion laws. Instead, he said he will focus on education, foreign affairs and health. He didn't reveal whether he thought abortion was included in health or not.
In 2020, the Abortion Legislation Bill, which took abortion out of the Crimes Act, was voted in with 68 votes in favour to 51 against. It meant abortion was no longer a crime in Aotearoa.
It was a conscience vote which meant MPs could vote based on what they believed, not on party lines.
Of the 46 Labour MPs who voted, 37 voted for and 9 voted against. Of the 55 National MPs, 19 voted in favour and 35 voted against. The nine Green MPs all voted in favour along with ACT leader David Seymour.
