Seekers of Aust. abortions almost doubled

Press, 11 April 1978, Page 1

Seekers of Aust. abortions almost doubled

The number of South Island women seeking abortions in Australia each week has almost doubled since the Contraception, Sterilisation, ai»d Abortion Act became law on April 1. The Sisters Overseas Service in Christchurch has handled 48 referrals since April 1 compared with a weekly average of between 15 and 20 in February and March. The ages of these 48 women ranged between 16 and 49, and included five schoolgirls. Five of the 48. one of them a schoolgirl, were granted terminations at the Christchurch Women’s Hospital. Twenty-one women have already gone to Australia for abortions. The rest are still waiting to go. An organiser for 5.0.5., Ms Elizabeth Sewell, said most of the 48 were referred to the service by general practitioners. “These doctors have said that the women we are sending to Australia have no grounds under the present legislation to gain an abortion in New Zealand,” she said. However, all the women who had tried to get terminations at the Christchurch Women’s Hospital since April 1 had been successful, she said.

In cases where women had received unsympathetic receptions from their G.P.S, S.O.S. had explained the procedures at the Christchurch Women’s Hospital but the women themselves had decided to go to Australia, she said.