ENDING PREGNANCY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 118, 21 May 1945, Page 3

ENDING PREGNANCY

GUIDE TO DOCTORS

MEDICAL COUNCIL'S LETTER

In order that the legal position may be widely understood, a circular letter on the subject of termination of pregnancy in women has been sent to all registered medical practitioners in the -Dominion by the Medical Council of New Zealand. The letter reads as follows:— "The' Medical Council desires to set out for the guidance of registered medical practitioners the legal position relating to the termination of a state of pregnancy in women and the council's attitude in the matter. The position is governed by Sections 220 and 221 of the Crimes Act, 1908. These sections read as follow: " 'Killing Unborn Child.—22o. (1) Everyone is liable to imprisonment with hard labour for life who causes the death of any child which has not become a human being in such a manner that he would have been guilty of murder if such child had been born; (2) no one is guilty of any crime who, by means employed in good faith for the preservation of the life of the mother of the child, causes the death of such child before or during its birth.' "'Procuring Abortion. — 221. (1) Everyone is liable to imprisonment with hard labour for life who, with intent to procure the miscarriage of any woman or girl, whether with child or not, unlawfully administers to or causes to be taken by her any poison or other noxious thing or unlawfully uses any instrument or other means whatsoever with the like intent.'

"It is the function of the Courts to interpret the law, but as no pronouncement on this particular matter has been given by the Courts in New Zealand it can reasonably be concluded that practising members of the profession will be on fairly safe ground if they are guided by the opinion given by Mr. Justice Macnaghten in a well-known case in Great Britain. It should be pointed out, however, that Supreme Court judges in New Zealand are not bound by the ruling of Mr. Justice Macnaghten. Mr. D. H. Kitchin, in his book, 'Law for the Medical Practitioner,' reports the statement of the learned judge as follows:— "No Hard and Fast, Line" "He said that the law had always been that to obtain a conviction for criminal abortion the Crown must prove that the act was not done in good faith for the purpose only of preserving the life of the mother. He proceeded, however, to amplify the expression 'preserving life.' To preserve life, he said, means more than to save from immediate death and no hard and fast line can be drawn between preserving life and preserving health. If a medical practitioner reasonably believes, on the basis of his experience and on adequate investigation of the facts, that the woman would in all probability become a physical or mental wreck as a result of bearing the child, then he is not only entitled, but it is his duty,' to perform ar: abortion. Only members of the meiical profession can perform such an operation and it is to be hoped and expected that none of them will ever lend himself to the malpractices cf the professional abortionist. In cases of this sort no practitioner would venture to act except after consulting some other member of the profession of high standing so as to confirm his view that the circumstances are such that an operation ought to be performed and is legal.

"No simple formula has yet been propounded defining for the guidance of the medical profession when therapeutic abortion is justified. The New Zealand Medical Council is of the opinion that any medical man who desires to terminate a pregnancy for medical reasons should, before doing so, take the fundamental precaution of consulting with a senior colleague of standing, preferably one who is recognised as a specialist in obstetrics or medicine, and should obtain his concurrence.

"In any case which •is brought before the Medical Council and where it appears that this fundamental precaution has not been taken, the council cannot fail to view the matter seriously.

"The medical practitioner who terminates any pregnancy must be prepared at all times to justify his action in a Court of law and runs three risks—he may be charged under the Crimes Act, action may be taken to have his name removed from the medical register and he may be exposed to civil proceedings."