ABORTION EVIL

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 171, 22 July 1941, Page 8

ABORTION EVIL

"COMMON IN N.Z." LABOURER SENT TO GAOL (P.A.) WELLINGTON, this day. A labourer, Bernard Mervyn Godfrey Staples (24), who pleaded guilty to attempting to supply an obnoxious thing with intent to procure a miscarriage, was sentenced to two months' imprisonment by Mr. Justice Blair in the Supreme Court to-day. His Honor said the case had given him a great deal of worry because it was abundantly plain that abortion was unfortunately very common in New Zealand. "Apparently even educated people appear to consider that murdering a child before it is born does not carry the stigma or horror that murdering a child after it is born engenders throughout the whole community," he said. "People look upon the procuring of abortion as something that, if it can be successfully done, they acn go to the length of boasting." The judge said the prisoner was ! one of those unfortunate enough to be found out, but he would be failing in his duty if he were to say the case could be met by probation. Prisoner's record was perfectly clean, but records of such people always were, and they did not offend again. Of course professional abortionists did. I but not people in prisoner's class. I According to the evidence of ! accused, a charge of 26/ was made by a chemist for stuff which, no doubt, was perfectly useless, but perhaps it was better iiot to say much about that, because he had no doubt that the police, if they thought the evidence was there, would take further action. He thought something should be done against a man who supplied the wherewithal for an abortion.