Abortion study day criticised

Press, 1 April 1980, Page 12

Abortion study day criticised

A pilot scheme on abortion counselling set up through the Abortion Supervisory Committee has come under fire from the Sisters Overseas Service (5.0.5.) in Christchurch. The first of a proposed series of study days for abortion counsellors was held in Christchurch last week. It was organised by the committee with assistance from the North Canterbury Hospital Board. The study day was held at Christchurch Women’s Hospital. •' Twenty-six people attended, including the seven members of the advisory committee, social workers from Canterbury and Westland, and representatives of the hospital board, 5.0.§., the Family Planning Association, and Pregnancy Help, j A spokeswoman for S.O.S. (Ms L. Peach) said the or-| ganisers said the purpose of! the day'was to improve the] skills and knowledge of those involved in abortion counselling. ‘.‘lt failed abysmally in this purpose. About onethird of the people attending were not actually involved in abortion counselling, and the agenda did not make provision for a discussion of the effects of the law on the abortion counselling interview,” Ms Peach said. “Legal criteria are required before a woman may have an abortion in New Zealand, yet the effect of these criteria on the client-

counsellor relationship was r never discussed,” Ms Peach said. She said the appointment of the committee was political, and its job was to provide a buffer zone between 1 Parliament and the public • with special • regard to the ; Contraception, Sterilisation, ’ and Abortion Act. “This they have done most effectively. It has . never been the job of the . committee to administer : public health. It is therefore something of an anomaly that they should profess this sud- . den interest in public health,” Ms Peach said. The chairman of. the com- . mittee (Mrs •V; M. Boyd) “ said in Wellington that the ; study day was not designed as a seminar on the law. It had been organised by an advisory committee in response to requests for train--1 j ing seminars for abortion J counsellors who had come ; I from hospitals licensed to . carry out abortions. . The advisory committee had intended to get people actively involved in counselling and they had invited the S.O.S. to take part be- : cause of this. Criticism by S.O.S. was not justified, as a “fair pro- >' portion” of the day was devoted to counselling, she 1 said. •; ■ “We hope for a feedback, and from.what I hear S.O.S. made their point of view evident on the day,” Mrs Boyd said: It was intended ; to hold further study days throughout the country.