Catholic group gives S.P.U.C. full support

Press, 29 April 1978, Page 21

Catholic group gives S.P.U.C. full support

( The full force of the Catholic Women’s. League of | Ne.w Zealand, with a membership of about 7500, is i right behind the Society for i the Protection of the Unborn (Child. The league’s national president, Mrs Marion Owen of Wellington, said that branches and individual members had responded magnificently to S.P.U.C.’s appeal for financial assistance for its fighting fund last year. “I do not know the exact amount contributed by members and branches, but it ran into thousands of dollars, rather than hundreds,” Mrs Owen said. Pregnancy Help is another organisation the C.W.L. is beginning to support. The league’s national executive intends to give it about $5OO for its publicity fund. Mrs Owen, who was in Christchurch to address the i league’s Christchurch Diocesan conference, said it was the duty of all Christian women, “not just Catholics,” to support any organisation that promoted the rights of the child and the family as a whole. Asked if the league was in

full agreement with the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act, Mrs Owen said that her national executive had asked the Government to “hold fast” to the new legislation until the law ;had been given time to (work. j “Many league members , feel that some amendments 1 should be made to the contraception and sterilisation ; sections of the act, but not i to the abortion clauses,” she (said. Catholic women were concerned, for instance, that parental authority was undermined in some of the contraception clauses. But the league had always firmly believed in the right to life and justice for all humanity “born and unborn.” “We are deeply concerned about justice for the small, the weak, and the dispossessed in the community,” she said. “All Christian women must accept their responsibility in the field of social justice. Because of their Christianity they can gain the strength actively to combat all kinds of injustices they see.” The theme -of her address to the conference was women’s obligations to society. Mrs Owen agreed that women must get into policymaking positions at. all levels, including the Government. But first they must

show care for all people around them. “The important work to be done is still tn our own communities. Then, as women gain the expertise and confidence in local areas they will become better fitted to go on to higher levels of responsibility and influence,” she said. The Catholic Women’s League, like other voluntary welfare groups, needed morel active members who could carry out the mission for better Christian living more positively, she said.

Mrs Owen has been national president of the C.W.L. for four years and Will retire from office in July. In Wellington, she and her husband, Mr J. Owen, are matron and warden at the Periodic Detention Centre, Thorndon.