British abortion clinics advertising abroad

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33779, 27 February 1975, Page 6

British abortion clinics advertising abroad

(N Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, February 26. Women going to Britain for abortions because of tight restrictions in their own countries are keeping private abortion clinics in business, according to a former Oxford University professor of obstetrics and gynaecology. Sir John Stallworthy, who was born in New Zealand, said in an interview yesterday that colleagues in several countries had told him that clinics had sent them

(pamphlets advertising abor-i (tions at £5OO each. “Many people feel that the (law could be more definite, i particularly in regard to women who come from overseas to have an abortion.” This could be dealt with by the addition of a residency clause but he added that the practice was decreasing as a number of other countries liberalised their abortion laws. Sir John recently retired as professor of obstetrics Sand gynaecology of the (Nuffield Post-Graduate Department of Oxford Univer- | sity and will be the presij dent of the British Medical 1 Association from July.

I In Dunedin last week he presented the centenary ova- ; tion at the Otago Medical (School. He said abortion laws would always be murky in spite of efforts to have them clarified. “There has been a lot of disquiet in Britain over the , interpretation of the laws ( and they are not as clear as many people would , like them to be.” TWO PROBLEMS ■ A lot of thoughtful pressure was necessary to point (out to Governments that (they had two problems, he I said. I “One is to deal with the emergency of the woman .who finds she has an un- : planned pregnancy which she is not prepared to keep. But there is a bigger probI lem which politicians ought ! to be giving more thought to ! — the situation which leads to society’s attitude to abortion.” Abortion facilities were ■ causing more interest in

I Britain at present than the (reasons behind the upsurge in abortion figures, he said. “We should look at the inI creasing numbers of teen(agers wanting abortions, the | terrible housing conditions ,and education.” I A pilot test had begun ini ‘ Oxford recently to inform ' (pregnant women and their I i husbands of some of the ( (problems of raising children. :