S.P.U.C. ‘will make issue of abortion’

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33964, 3 October 1975, Page 10

S.P.U.C. ‘will make issue of abortion’

'sew Zealand Press Association >

AUCKLAND, October 2.

The Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child is determined to make abortion an issue at the General Election.

Delegations from the branches of the society intend to ask all candi* dates to fill in a questionnaire prepared by the society designed to show their views on abortion and the present, law. Each candidate will be presented with a 56-page resource folder with information collated by the society on abortion and related subjects. A spokesman for the society. Mr P. Gleeson, said tonight the answers to the questionnaire would be pub hshed in a newsletter circulated to 40,000 members. There would be no attempt to comment on individual replies. They would be allowed to speak for themselves. Where candidates declined to. answer the questions their I forms would be published 1 with the questions marked 1 unanswered. "We are not going to wage a war against politicians who i don’t agree with us,” said Mr' Gleeson. "But in an elector- ■ ate where there is a small, margin, our members may I campaign for the candidate 1 who shows up in our ques-; tionnaire as pro-life. It is dos- I sible that local groups might distribute election material based on the results.” The resource material be-; ing presented to candidates, includes description of abor-; tion and its medical and legal, implications. There is also general criti-l cism of abortion clinics and the Remuera abortion clinic, | in particular. But the information is already slightly out of date. It takes no account of Mr Justice Speight’s recent decision! on the Hospitals Amendment: Act, which was designed to]

>outlaw such clinics but broadly failed to do so. “The material took time to prepare,” explained Mr Gleeson. “It was correct up to the beginning of last month.” i Election candidates are already being invited to complete a questionnaire sponsored by the Women’s Electoral Lobby on issues including abortion. Some politicians have been-

reluctant to complete them and have been criticised by the lobby. The leader of the Values Party (Mr R. C. Clough) said abortion was a party issue. His party believed the final decision on abortion should be left to the woman concerned and he would expect that the party candidates would fill in the questionnaire bearing that policy in mind.