The right of doctors to refuse from performing abortions on pregnant women coming in for the procedure has been upheld by a High Court. The ruling has come after a doctor had last month moved to the court after she felt that the move was unjust.

The GP who had applied for a stay on the guideline is known as Catherine Hallagan. Her solicitor had informed the court that Dr. Hallagan felt that the move went a little too far in determining a medical practitioners working with patients.

In a response to the appeal filed by Hallagan, lawyers for the Medical Council said that the decisions to implement such changes were justified. They argued that the introduction of these procedures helped in balancing the rights of both patients and doctors, as a GP had the right to gauge their self beliefs.

The application by Hallagan was a result of the "Belief and Medical Practice" guidelines that had been proposed by the council in March last year. The judgment was passed by Justice Alance Mckenzie from the High Court of Wellington and has been welcomed by the group Voice for Life Inc.

Apart from Dr. Hallagan, there were forty other doctors who had filed the case and had asked for the intervention of a judicial review into the proposed procedures.