Facts needed to support review
PA Wellington The Abortion Super* visory Committee cannot review the abortion law because it does not have enough factual information to work on, it said in a supplementary report tabled in Parliament; yesterday. The committee, chaired by Mrs Augusta Wallace, S.M., of Auckland, said it had little information from which valid conclusions could be made. It received “considerable correspondence” from interested persons and organisations, “but in most cases the information given has been in the form of opinion, or based on hearsay at third or fourth hand. “These communications are of little assistance when not based on fact,” it said. The committee is to get all certifying consultants to give reports of all consultations, whether by interview or by telephone, and whether approval for an abortion was given, refused or otherwise dealt with. “The committee will not be satisfied that the statistics given can be regarded as reliable until it is confident that it is receiving information on all consultations,” it said. The committee intends reporting more frequently to Parliament, particularly
on matters of public interest.
Elsewhere in its report, the committee said the Epsom Day Hospital in Auckland, a separate abortion clinic, will not be able to meet the demands being made on it for some time.
Since November last year a limited service has been working, but so far it has been unable to deal with more than 50 per cent of the women seeking appointments. Several of the operating surgeons will resign and, although the Auckland Hospital Board has made five appointments to replace them, only one had started work, while the others are still being trained.
In Wellington, the committee said, the lack of surgeons at the hospital, caused by the resignation in April of the three carrying out most of the abortions, could not be remedied immediately.
“The situation highlights the need for a separate abortion facility to service the Wellington area,” the report said.
To page 4 l 1
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19790712.2.11
Bibliographic details
Press, 12 July 1979, Page 1
Word Count
330Facts needed to support review Press, 12 July 1979, Page 1
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.
Log in