Clinic caise to be restated

Press, 5 August 1983, Page 5

Clinic caise to be restated

The argument for a new Christchurch abortion clinic will be taken up again in Wellington this month.

The North Canterbury Hospital Board has already told the Health Department that if funds are not provided’ for a free-standing abortion clinic, the only alternative is to restrict the number of abortions now done at Christchurch Women’s Hospital. A board deputation seeking Government approval in principle for the clinic has been “pencilled in” to see the Minister of Health, Mr Malcolm, in a fortnight’s time. The board chairman,

Mr T. C. Grigg, said the appointment he made while in Wellington earlier this week still had to be confirmed. Board members had originally hoped to meet Mr Malcolm in May. They are worried that the increasing number of abortions performed at Christchurch Women’s is affecting other hospital services. “The whole project has got to be worked through,” Mr Grigg said. Funding for the proposed clinic in Cashmere is still an unresolved question. The planned conversion of an unused house in the grounds of Coronation Hospital was

last year estimated at $75,000 to $lOO,OOO, plus staffing costs.

“We have done a feasibility study and very rough sketch plans of what could be done,” he said. “That is as far as we have gone.” The board’s argument is that the Government set a priority for the clinic when it introduced legislation requiring the board to provide an abortion service. The board now wants the Government to allocate resources to meet that priority. _

A Christchurch spokeswoman for the Abortion Law Reform Association,

Ms Fiona Ocock, said a separate abortion clinic was long overdue in the city. Most Hospital Board members supported its establishment, but the problem was funding. “The hold-up now seems to be Aussie Malcolm,” she said. “The only way to get him into gear is to go and see him.”

The abortion supervisory committee recommended in 1981 that a separate clinic be set up in Christchurch. However, the Minister said later that Christchurch’s chances were slim, even though Wellington and Auckland already had such facilities.