Margaret Sparrow

In 1971, Sparrow joined the [[Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand]], becoming president from 1975 to 1980, and again from 1984 until 2011.{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10715975|title=Dame Margaret steps aside from abortion reform group|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|date=30 March 2011|agency=NZPA|accessdate=10 June 2014}}

In 1971, Sparrow joined the [[Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand]], becoming president from 1975 to 1980, and again from 1984 until 2011.{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10715975|title=Dame Margaret steps aside from abortion reform group|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|date=30 March 2011|agency=NZPA|accessdate=10 June 2014}}

In 1976, Sparrow took a sabbatical in the United Kingdom, where she undertook a year long intensive venerology diploma at [[University of London]] and the [[Society of Apothecaries]]. During her time in London, Sparrow also worked at an abortion clinic run by the [[British Pregnancy Advisory Service|Pregnancy Advisory Service]], and was trained by [[Dorothea Kerslake|Dr. Dorothea Kerslake]] in [[Vacuum aspiration|suction abortion]]. She also went to India, applying her recent training in a mobile clinic doing vasectomies.{{Cite web|title=Dame Margaret June Sparrow (nee Muir)|url=https://www.earlymedwomen.auckland.ac.nz/2022/10/03/dame-margaret-june-sparrow-nee-muir/|website=The Early Medical Women of New Zealand|date=2022-10-03|access-date=2026-01-30|language=en-NZ}} On return to New Zealand in 1977, she put this recent training into practice, helping to set up the Parkview Clinic at [[Wellington Hospital, New Zealand|Wellington Hospital]] and working as a visiting venereologist there. Sparrow was an operating doctor at the Parkview Clinic from its opening in 1980 until 1997, when she was made redundant after a third-party consultancy group determined her inability to provide certifying consultancy was inefficient.

In 1976, Sparrow took a sabbatical in the United Kingdom, where she undertook a year long intensive venerology diploma at [[University of London]] and the [[Society of Apothecaries]]. During her time in London, Sparrow also worked at an abortion clinic run by the [[British Pregnancy Advisory Service|Pregnancy Advisory Service]], and was trained by [[Dorothea Kerslake]] in [[Vacuum aspiration|suction abortion]]. She also went to India, applying her recent training in a mobile clinic doing vasectomies.{{Cite web|title=Dame Margaret June Sparrow (nee Muir)|url=https://www.earlymedwomen.auckland.ac.nz/2022/10/03/dame-margaret-june-sparrow-nee-muir/|website=The Early Medical Women of New Zealand|date=2022-10-03|access-date=2026-01-30|language=en-NZ}} On return to New Zealand in 1977, she put this recent training into practice, helping to set up the Parkview Clinic at [[Wellington Hospital, New Zealand|Wellington Hospital]] and working as a visiting venereologist there. Sparrow was an operating doctor at the Parkview Clinic from its opening in 1980 until 1997, when she was made redundant after a third-party consultancy group determined her inability to provide certifying consultancy was inefficient.

She is a Director of Istar Ltd, a not-for-profit company that imports the abortion pill [[mifepristone]] from France. The pill was approved for use in 2001, and allowed women to have medical — rather than surgical — abortions for the first time.{{cite web|url=http://www.alranz.org/aboutus/Margaret.html|title=Past President, Dame Margaret Sparrow|publisher=ALRANZ|accessdate=17 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074052/http://www.alranz.org/aboutus/Margaret.html|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}} No other pharmaceutical company was interested in importing the drug.

She is a Director of Istar Ltd, a not-for-profit company that imports the abortion pill [[mifepristone]] from France. The pill was approved for use in 2001, and allowed women to have medical — rather than surgical — abortions for the first time.{{cite web|url=http://www.alranz.org/aboutus/Margaret.html|title=Past President, Dame Margaret Sparrow|publisher=ALRANZ|accessdate=17 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074052/http://www.alranz.org/aboutus/Margaret.html|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}} No other pharmaceutical company was interested in importing the drug.