Panel discussion on pregnancy

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32879, 30 March 1972, Page 5

Panel discussion on pregnancy

A pregnant, unmarried girl had six possible choices in her situation, Mrs Nancy Sutherland said at the annual meeting of the Christchurch Parents’ Centre on Tuesday evening.

She could marry, live in a de facto relationship with the child’s father or another man,! live at home with her parents and keep the child, have the child adopted, have a legal or illegal abortion, or commit suicide. “These are the courses open; to her,” said Mrs Sutherland.’ Mrs Sutherland, who had; just retired as president of the Parents Centre, was tak-| ing part in a panel discussing; pre-marital pregnancy. Other panelists were Miss Margaret Cooper, of the Ang-I lican Social Services, Miss Noeline Clark, senior mistress at Bumside High School and Dr J. R. E. Dobson, of the Department of psychological medicine, Christchurch Hospital. The panel was headed by Mrs Helen Holmes, a past president of the Parents Centre. Mrs Sutherland said time was the most important single factor when dealing with the possibility or probability of pre-marital pregnancy. THREE STAGES “There are three stages. The first stage of involvment I would call the stage of counselling against intercourse. The second would be

the contraceptive advice stage and the third, when intercourse is inevitable, the stage where advice and contraceptives should be given.” There were also three stages in the prevention and repair of a pre-marital pregnancy.

“Prevention of a possible pregnancy, prevention of a probable pregnancy and prevention or repair of a definitely diagnosed pregnancy.” Women, said Mrs Sutherland, did not take abortion

• lightly “under any circum-i I stances.” It was a measure! ’ only considered if contracep-; Ition had failed. j However, there were steps ! a girl could take before the > I question of abortion arose. ’ , “If a girl has had unprotected intercourse, she should ■ see her doctor as soon as ; possible afterwards. If her is several days late, >ishe should consult a doctor J and be treated for distur- ■ bance of the menstrual cycle. > At this stage there is no posj sibility of diagnosing a preg- . nancy. “After she has missed two , periods arid pregnancy has been definitely diagnosed, she [■can try to get the pregnancy ’ terminated. This can only be . done legally in New Zealand < under certain circumstances ;and only within the first 12 ; I weeks of pregnancy.” “LESS HARMFUL” Mrs Sutherland said she j felt it was “less harmful to • terminate an unwanted pregnancy than to terminate child rearing by baby beating in 1 the years to come.” Miss Cooper said the emo- ; tions felt by an unmarried pregnant girl when she realised her state were guilt, ! distress and fear. “She may ; try to cover it up, but these ’ are the feelings she would have.” The experience of unmarried motherhood was one which would leave a girl scarred for years to come and ; even affect her role as a ’ mother when she eventually • married. "What a girl needs in this

difficult time is a warm family home—to be included in a family and treated like one of them and her pregnancy accepted as normal.” If she received treatment that would enable her to be well balanced throughout her pregnancy and be a good

mother, she would be in a better position to make decisions about her child once it was bom. Miss Cooper did not agree wholly with the principle of an unmarried mother receiv-

ling a Social Security benefit las a sole and regular source | of income. ! “She would become dependent solely on the benefit for her own and her child’s needs and probably become housebound. If she had a job she would be mixing with all kinds of people and would have more of an opportunity to meet new friends and feel a part of the world.” GIRLS LEAVE It was unfortunate, said Miss Clark, that a lot of girls “just disappeared" from the school when they learned they were pregnant, as no alternative education

could be arranged for them. However, very few girls who had babies returned to the same school. "We have at Burnside what we feel is a good and adequate sex education programme, and discussion is encouraged.” Dr Dobson said that in his position in psychological services he saw annually from 70 to 75 women from all walks of life who were referred to him for consideration of termination of pregnancy. _ j "In my discussions with patients it is regretful but true that a terrific lot of them are surprisingly ignorant of sexual matters and contraception.” In a society which seemed to refuse to accept that premarital coitus was common, jit was not surprising, he said. It was also not surprising when one considered legislation like the Police Offences Amendment Act 1954, which made it an offence to instruct or persuade a child under the age of 16 to use contraception. “This law is probably responsible for a , lot of suffering in the community when you realise the number of under-16 pregnancies and the inadequate instruction in that area. Mr J. Dawson, a lawyer, spoke from the floor and told the meeting that in 1967 the penalties under the act had been doubled. Any person convicted on a charge of instructing an under-16-year-old in contraception methods was liable to a fine of $2OO (first offence) and subsequent offences imposed fines of $4OO. u J . The meeting decided to pass a motion for discussion at a subsequent meeting that, the provisions of Section 2 of the Police Offences Act 1954 being contrary to the public good, the Ministers of Health and Social Security be asked to take steps to repeal the law. A motion endorsing the aims of abortion law reform in New Zealand was also passed.