HEALTH AND MARRIAGE

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 November 1934, Page 7

HEALTH AND MARRIAGE

DISCUSSION IN LORDS. [by CABLE —PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.] LONDON, November 15. Lord Kilmaine, in the House of Lords, moved that the House was in favour of the amendment of the‘marriage laws so as to make it obligatory on both parties to every proposed marriage to produce medical certificates of their fitness, and further, that for marriages, the doctors must issue one of four kinds of certificates, namely: First, “All clear”; secondly, that the marriage should be delayed; thirdly, that the marriage must be childless; fourthly, a. total prohibiten of the marriage being dangerous both to the parties and to possible children. The Archbishop of Canterbury said that such of motion as this would put a great responsibility on the doctors and also on the clergy. The House of Lords ought not to give such a lead by passing this motion. Lord Gage, replying, said that the Ministry of Health felt that, there was a sufficient, opportunity to test, public opinion by reference to the recent report on sterilisation, which now was being considered by many bodies. Beyond that they could not go. It would be necessary in such a delicate matter to carry the public with them at every step. It would be disastrous, he said, to go as far as Lord Kilmaine proposed to go without more evidence of both public and medical support. Lord Kilmaine withdrew’ his motion.