Clinic licence welcomed

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33938, 3 September 1975, Page 6

Clinic licence welcomed

The Abortion Law Reform Association is •’leased that the Auckland Medical Aid Centre is to continue operating now that the Hospitals Amendment Act is in force, said Ms Diane Roberts, secretary of the Christchurch branch of the association, yesterday.

“The Health Department is to be congratulated on its wise decision and on the regulations it has drawn up,” Ms Roberts said.

“The Hospitals Amendment Act is a most unfortunate piece of legislation and poses great difficulties for the department, as it does for doctors and patients aiso. However, it is al! that can be expected of legislation that was hastily drawn up by amateur law-makers over a cup of tea at Bellamys, and pushed through Parliament on a wave of anti-clinic hysteria. Now that it is law we must make the most of a bad job. “It is only logical that the Auckland Medical Aid Centre should be the first hospital to be granted a licence to perform abortions under the new legislation,” Ms Roberts said.

“After all, it has been providing a quality abortion service since its inception and was better prepared than any other hospital in New Zealand to comply with the new act. Other private hospitals have had to set up counselling services. “There is no question of the Auckland Medical Aid Centre not coming up to standard! The question is whether any other hospital In New Zealand can reach the high standard it has set,” said Ms Roberts.

"It seems the only achievement of the Hospitals Amendment Act has been to put the trust that runs the medical aid centre to a lot of unnecessary' trouble and expense, thereby raising the cost of abortion from $BO to $lOO. So much for all the high-flown talk that accompanied its passage through Parliament, promising an end to the exploitation of abortion patients. It will now cost a Christchurch woman about $2OO to obtain an abortion at the medical aid centre, with air fare at over $BO and accommodation and travel expenses to pay as well. PETITION “The Abortion Law Reform Association still feels that the Auckland Medical Aid Centre should be able to continue operating as a daypatient clinic,” said Ms Roberts. “We oppose the extra

expense, the cumbersome procedures and delays, and the cold clinical atmosphere that inevitably arise in a larger hospital' A large body of. medical evidence shows that early abortions are best carried out in low-cost daypatient clinics. A national petition putting forward this view is being organised by the committee opposing the Hospital Amendment Act in Wellington, and forms can be obtained from the Abortion Law Reform Association in Christchurch.”