Women ‘lying’ to beat the abortion system — Miss Waring

Press, 12 July 1979, Page 1

Women ‘lying’ to beat the abortion system — Miss Waring

PA

Wellington

A ••conservative*’ estimate showed that 3857 New Zealand women had abortions in Australia in the year to March 31, said the member of Parliament for Waipa, Miss Marilyn Waring, vesterdav.

Releasing the first part of the material she had put before the Abortion Supervisory Committee at an hour-long meeting yesterday, Miss Waring said that the number of women going to Australia was based on statistics gathered by the Sisters Overseas Service (5.0.5.), doctors, and information from abortion clinics in Australia. She said the committee had “freely acknowledged” that the abortion legislation was not working. The committee also admitted that women and doctors were “engaged” in subterfuge and lies to get round the system, she said.

the committee to change radically the abortion law would have the support of Parliament, Miss Waring replied: ”1 just cannot believe that in the near future the committee would suggest any change to the law, let alone radical.”

“It freely acknowledges that women who were declined abortions in Invercargill were able to get them under false addresses in Christchurch,” said Miss Waring. The committee also admitted that Wellington women were using Hutt addresses to get abortions. “They freely acknowledged to me that it (the legislation) was not working,” said Miss Waring, who. had been asked to meet the committee to substantiate assertions made over a month ago that the abortion system had broken down. Miss Waring also gave the committee material on a survey of doctors’ attitudes on the criteria for abortions, a survey of abortion institutions, and also a number of case histories of women seeking abortions. The committee said it had read the material, but in terms of its jurisdiction and administration of the law, considered it did not “appear to be relevant.” “The net result of all that I told the committee was that they said, ‘Yes, we know all that, but

The figures produced by Miss Waring showed that 3857 women went to Australia for abortions, compared with 2466 carried out in New Zealand in the period from March 1, 1976, to April 1 this year. The figures were, she i said, conservative because the only numbers of refer- I rals she and her staff knew about came from 5.0.5., or from doctors 1 who referred to Australia directly or kept Miss War-| ing informed. The abortion clinics in ! Australia had also been ; approached by telephone I and told Miss Waring that I between nine and 12 New ; Zealand women a week arrived for abortions with-1 out being referred by a doctor. A lot of New Zealand I women were suffering “real agonies” under the | present abortion system in | New Zealand and through I having to go to Australia, 1 Miss Waring said. About $2 million a year I was being lost through the I women having to go to I Australia, she said. Other information she i had, details of which would be released soon, showed that in New Zealand more than 100 women had to travel up to 200 miles to get an abortion, 56 per cent of abortion institutions offered no I counselling service at all, and that doctors’ ideas on ' the criteria for abortions differed “very greatly.” Miss Waring said she would distribute her material to other members of Parliament r

really it is up to Parliament to do something about it -— it is not our job’,” said Miss Waring. She said the committee considered her material “interesting,” but said .it “related a great deal more to politics rather than the law.” The committee suggested that “maybe” it would bring in another report to Parliament on the legislation. “My feeling was that

that would not be soon,” said Miss Waring, who added that the committee kept insisting that it could not move until it had information that was “totally factual.”

She suggested that if the committee wanted information on the numbers of women seeking abortions in Australia, it should get in touch with the clinics there, but the committee refused.

Asked if a proposal by