Bill ‘controversial’

Press, 16 August 1977, Page 1

Bill ‘controversial’

Parliamentary reporter

The controversial legislation on abortion will be before Parliament either on Thursday afternoon or on Friday morning.

Confirming this last evening, the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) said that the proposal was to allow it to lie in Parliament for a month, and then for it to proceed. He would not answer questions on individual items in the bill, but said the proposal was that specific portions of it, once passed by the House, would go forward as amendments to various acts. He was not prepared to sav what acts were involved, or how many of them there were. Mr Muldoon explained that the intention was to allow a month for the various interested persons and organisations, particularly members of Parliament, to form their own

opinions about it. The legislation will be subject to a “free vote” in Parliament. “Members will have plenty of opportunity to make their owm judgments on what is contained in the bill,” Mr Muldoon said. “I know this will be highly controversial—it always has been, since the subject first came up.” Mr Muldoon said that the legislation would follow fairly closely the recommendations of the Royal Commission on contraception, abortion and sterilisation “except in such cases as where there would be difficulty in interpreting the recommendation in legal terms.”

Asked if the recommendation that decisions on abortions would be made by panels of doctors was in the bill, Mr Muldoon declined to comment. Reminded that medical groups

have expressed themselves as being against this aspect, he said: “Doctors have a lot to do with it, but it must be remembered that people have a lot to do with it also.”

If Mr Muldoon’s programme is followed, the legislation, after being introduced this week, will begin its Parliamentary discussion in the latter half of September. There is no possibility of its being referred to a select committee, according to Mr Muldoon. “It has had a long exposure to the Royal Commission already,” he said. “I am sure that the various bodies will again become vitally concerned — indeed the pressure has hardly eased.” He declined, however, to say how many letters he had received on the subject.