Statistics contested

Press, 6 July 1977, Page 2

Statistics contested

The Abortion Law Reform Association (Christchurch) has been encouraged by an admission by the president of the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child, according to the association’s chairman (Mrs Jacqueline Steincamp). Mrs Steincamp said it was encouraging to read that the society’s president (Mr Desmond Dalgety) admitted that the doctor had two patients in the abortion decision. She said her association contested Mr Dalgety’s use of statistics in the Royal Commission’s report where they referred to public and professional attitudes towards abortion.

To support his claim that most New Zealanders opposed abortion being freely available, Mr Dalgety had selected the one atypical figure of 68.5 per cent opposing “abortion always legal in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy,” Mrs Steincamp said.

This was from a National Research Bureau survey in May, 1976. “He did not quote the figure of 60.7 per cent who said abortion should be legally allowed if the woman and her doctor agreed within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. This was shown in the same survey,” she said.

Mr Dalgety had not quoted other figures regarding public response, showing an even more liberal outlook, as there was no time limit attached to when termination might take place, she said.

These were that 60.5 per cent supported the proposition that abortion to terminate any unwanted pregnancy should be made legal (Heylen poll, April 1976); 68 per cent thought it should be allowable where the woman and her doctor decide (Auckland survey, 1972); 63 per cent thought likewise in Tokoroa in 1975 and 83 per cent in Porirua in 1972.

“Where the medical profession is concerned, Mr Dalgety also quoted misleading figures to support his claims that the medical profession does not want liberalisation of the law,” said Mrs Steincamp. In fact, the surveys cited in the report showed a general professional dissatisfaction with restrictive legislation.

For instance; 76.6 per cent of general practitioners in 1975 considered they had patients for whom termination was desirable, but illegal; 94 per cent of psychiatrists considered that doctors should be free to

exercise their professional opinion, in a survey in 1975; more than 60 per cent of obstetricians and gynaecologists had no strong objections to the termination of pregnancy on religious or other grounds. Surveys done since the Royal Commission reported showed an even greater swing towards liberalisation, she said.

A University of Otago survey conducted in early May showed that 82.9 per cent of women supported the proposition that it should be the woman alone who should make the decision. Only 5.9 per cent of women supported the Royal Commission’s panel recommendations.

AL.R.A.N.Z. had found from carefully conducted surveys under way in Christchurch that between 80-90 per cent believed the decision should be left to the woman alone, she said. “Likewise, the fact that 1030 general practitioners out of a total of 1300 have sent women for terminations at the Auckland Medical Aid Centre indicates a growing professional acceptance of the woman’s ability to make responsible decisions, and professional support for the clinic,” she said.