SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 47, 19 November 1936, Page 15

SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Criminal Abortion and Birth Control PRESBYTERIAN GENERAL ASSEMBLY' DISCUSSION Dominion Special Service. Christchurch, November 18. Although he apologised for raising matters which some members of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church might find “hair raising,” Dr. P. C. Davie, New Plymouth, strongly urged that consideration should be given to criminal abortion, birth control, sterilisation of the unfit and euthanasia when the Assembly was dealing with the report of its public questions committee this evening. A resolution that these matters should be considered by the committee was carried. Dr. Davie moved that the public questions committee should consider and report to the next meeting of the Assembly upon (1) criminal abortion, (2) birth control, (3) euthanasia, and (4) sterilisation of the unfit. These were all vitally important problems and problems which concerned the Church, said Dr. Davie. Doctors were now investigating the problem of criminal abortion. It concerned first of all the unmarried girl. In this it was a matter of morals, and therefore was a matter; which Had to do with the Church. Secondly, it affected married women who, wanting a good time, did not want children. The issue here was selfishness. again a matter of morals. The third group included those women who did not want children because they could not afford them. Here the issue was economic and the Church was concerned, in the economic state of the community. * “I thought that this assembly was 1 the place in which to bring this matter up,” said Dr. Davie. “Doctors cannot deal with the factors that cause the unmarried girl or the selfish woman or the poor one to endeavour not to have children. The Church must consider these things.” Sterilisation of the unfit was another vital matter. It had been adopted in Germany; although lie was not advancing it for that reason, yet the result would be that before long Germany would have a race of very fit people. The reason why New Zealand would not have such a race of fit people was that it allowed the unfit to have children and these were the ones who had large families. Other sections of the community paid for the support of these hordes of imbeciles. “Gambling causes unhappiness in comparison with the unhappiness caused by the things I mention,” he continued. “To some my mentioning these matters here must be ‘hair-raising.’ You younger fellows must face this. I commend the young men who wrote that ‘Christ and To-morrow’ pamphlet. To-day children know as much at the age of 15 as the generation before them knew at 50. You don’t need to tell them then. Yours is the opportunity to tell them before they get it from outside. There is no use in shirking the truth with children.” Dr. Davie also mentioned euthanasia. or painless -death, for persons suffering from incurable disease. Doctors, he said, would not advocate it, for it was their duty to preserve life whenever it was given to their charge. However, he wished the committee to con-, eider it. i “It seems that our Church has beentoo long in investigating these mat-' ters,” said the Rev. J. Strang. “Other churches have given pronouncements on' them. No uncertain direction on them I is needed from the Church.” ’. It was decided that the matters rais- j ed should be considered by the public ? questions committee.