A petition aiming to reduce the number of babies born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder has been presented to Parliament.

Tauranga man Christopher Ingram, 87, is on a mission to reduce the number of FASD babies.

The retired health professional is passionate about the issue, having had experience as a friend had adopted a baby to find out later they had FASD.

He learned if a pregnant woman drank any amount of alcohol, it could cause lifelong damage to the developing fetus.

His petition asks for signs to be displayed within and on the doors of every liquor store to ”inform pregnant mothers so they can make an informed choice to drink or not”.

“I want this sign in the doorway: ‘Pregnant? Don’t Drink’, to give them an opportunity to make a choice.”

On February 10, Ingram and a group of supporters, met Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford to pass on his petition to be taken to parliament.

Tauranga man Christopher Ingram handing over his FASD petition to Bay Of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford. Photo / Ayla Yeoman

“The FASD petition was presented to the House on Tuesday 11 February and has been referred to the petitions select committee,” Rutherford said.

In a previous article, Ingram said: “When in parliament, I’m hoping it will receive full crossbench support from all MPs to be passed speedily to benefit the whole country.”

Rutherford said one of the requirements to present a petition to Parliament was to have an MP present the petition to the House before a select committee could consider it “and so I agreed to do that”.

In a statement to SunLive, Rutherford said the select committee would gather evidence which could include requesting written submissions from petitioners, inviting oral submissions, gathering information from relevant organisations, referring the petition to another select committee with relevant expertise, or referring it directly to a minister for response within 60 working days.

After that, the committee would release a report to the House, summarising its findings.

“The committee’s final report will be publicly announced on the Parliament website and may include recommendations to the Government,” Rutherford said.

“If it does, the Government must respond within 60 working days.”