National Party leader Simon Bridges has doubled down on his opposition to changing New Zealand's abortion law - which currently treats the procedure as a crime.

Bridges went so far as to say he would be "loath to" take it out of the Crimes Act when he appeared on 1 News on Monday morning.

He was challenged on the issue by Jack Tame and by Susie Ferguson on RNZ's Morning Report.

JOEL MAXWELL/STUFF Terry Bellamak, national president of the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand (ALRANZ) Abortion Rights Aotearoa.

Bridges told both presenters he his stance on abortions was "rare, safe, legal" - with an emphasis on rare.

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Speaking to Ferguson, he said: "I have not seen the case for change in this area. Overall, I think the regime we have for abortions is working well."

When both Ferguson and Tame challenged him on the fact women had to lie or claim "mental fragility" to obtain an abortion, he avoided a direct answer both times.

He referred to advice being prepared by the Law Commission about abortion law for Justice Minister Andrew Little and said he would wait to hear the results of that.

Both Ferguson and Tame's questions were motivated by Ireland voting to legalise abortion in a referendum on Friday.

Terry Bellamak, president of Abortion Law Reform New Zealand (ALRANZ) said New Zealand politicians should be "embarrassed" by how slowly they've acted on the issue compared to Ireland.

She was lost for words trying to express her feelings about Ireland backing change by two to one in a referendum on Friday.

The Coalition government has asked the Law Commission to consider changes, including removing abortion from the Crimes Act and making it a health issue. But as it stands, termination is still a crime here except in a few scenarios.

Justice Minister Andrew Little said the Law Commission was due to report back to him by the end of this year and, providing the Government could agree on the recommendations, he says it's possible there could be legislation before Parliament next year.

While Bellamak said that was good news, the difference between Ireland and New Zealand is that Ireland went "straight to the people" while here it would be a conscience vote in Parliament.

"The fact is that people tend to be a lot more progressive and the leaders tend to be a lot more conservative," she said.

"Politicians move slower and I hope that the politicians also see the sea change that this vote indicates has really happened.

"I think it's embarrassing, it's embarrassing for the New Zealand government and successive onces since 1977. None of them have really done much to improve the situation."

Right to Life, a group staunchly opposed to abortion law reform, has previously said moves to legalise or decriminalise it would be met with "fierce opposition".