to abortion and to voluntary euthanasia Subsequently, Copeland protested against the establishment of a hosted website for Australian euthanasia-activist Philip Nitschke's Exit International organisation, and approached the New Zealand Ministers of Immigration and Information Technology, as well as the New Zealand Police, seeking to frustrate Nitschke's attempts to resettle in that country. Copeland wanted to introduce a private member's ballot bill designed to require women seeking abortion to undergo mandatory counselling covering both proceeding with the pregnancy and abortion prior to making a decision. This bill, the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion (Informed Consent) Bill, resembled Australian Capital Territory legislation repealed several years ago. Women do not have to consult optional counselling services under the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977. As a devout Catholic, Copeland espoused anti-abortion views in debates about reproductive freedom for women, and believed that women did not receive relevant information related to abortion procedures, hence the title to the Bill, which was never drawn from the ballot for private members bills. Opposition to prohibiting parental corporal punishment Copeland criticised Sue Bradford's private member's Child Discipline Bill (introduced in 2005), an amendment to New Zealand's Crimes Act 1961 which removed the legal defence of "reasonable force" for parents prosecuted for assault on their children, and had previously obtained a Queen's Counsel opinion confirming that legal position. Sue Bradford said that the fact that Copeland did not disclose that his Queen's Counsel, Peter McKenzie, had previously represented Christian organisations like Right to Life New Zealand and the Society for Promotion of Community Standards undermined the opinion. Resignation from United Future On 16 May 2007, Copeland resigned from the United Future party after its leader, Peter Dunne, had consistently voted for Bradford's Child Discipline Bill, which removed the defence of "reasonable force" related to parental corporal punishment of children. Copeland has since said that after the 2005 elections, which saw the United Future caucus reduce from eight to three, Dunne had wanted to return to his liberal roots and to see an end to the Christian influence in the party. Dunne also told Copeland that he regretted having voted against the legalisation of prostitution and the Civil Unions Act. In a televised interview on 3 July 2007, Dunne said that Copeland's decision to quit came after a failed leadership bid in January 2007. This is strongly denied by Copeland who says that he had never thought of, let alone