Mr Birch's amendment criticised

Press, 8 October 1977, Page 3

Mr Birch's amendment criticised

PA Auckland ' Mr W. F. Birch’s amendiment to the Contraception Sterilisation, and Abortion Bill has provoked widespread criticism from women’s groups. A spokeswoman for the ! feminist magazine, “Broadi sheet,” said the proposed amendment retained all the [bad features of the panel [system, ignored public opin- | ion. and had nothing to [recommend it. The proposed amendment was closer to the spirit of the Royal Commission’s report, as Mr Birch had asserted, she said, but it was not closer to “what the public wanted." ' The spokeswoman said i that the latest Heylen poll showed 58 per cent of those '.questioned believed that [abortion to terminate any I unwanted pregnancy should be made legal. The joint co-ordinators of Coaction in Auckland condemned the proposal as “totally unworkable, inhumane. and lacking in compassion for the woman involved." They alleged that the amendment would’ involve four doctors: the woman’s own doctor, two approved doctors, and the operating doctor, and would be more time-consuming than the panel system. The chairman of the Auckland branch of the Abortion Law Reform Association (Mrs C. Knox) said the proposed “certifying consultants” were an insult to the genera! practitioner, giving him no participation in the decision-making process. The certifying consultants would have the blessing of parliament, Mrs Knox said, but New Zealanders had already indicated that they did not want political control over a matter as personal and private as this. A spokeswoman for the Coalition to Oppose Restrictive Abortion Legislation described the proposed amendment as an undercover panel system even worse than the original one.” ] She criticised it for not proposing that one of the certifying consultants be a woman, and that a social worker was not included in the decision making. “Mr Birch’s attempt to disguise the panel system as 'certifying consultants appointed by the supervisory committee’ is thin and unconvincing,” she said. “It is still a panel system, and will degrade women and make abortions more difficult to get.” In Christchurch, the chairwoman of the Abortion Law Reform Assocation (Mrs J. Steincamp) described Mr Birch’s amendment as “highly restrictive.” “It would probably be worse than the panel system,” she said. “Because it is well known that . specialists are not sympathetic to women with unwanted pregnancies.”