SOCIAL MENACE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22714, 28 April 1937, Page 14

SOCIAL MENACE

STATE ACTION LEG ED

ANGLICAN CHURCH VIEWS

APPEAL TO COMMUNITY

Appreciation of the action of the Government in setting up the committee of inquiry into the various aspexts of the problem of abortion in New Zealand, and approval of the thorough investigation made, and of the candour of the findings of the committee, are expressed in a manifesto signed by Archbishop Averill as Bishop of Auckland, and issued after a conference of the bishop and 45 of the clergy of the Diocese of Auckland. The conference declares:— "(1) Criminal abortion is murder, being the deliberate destruction of life already begun. It is a sin against God. a sin against society, and a sin against the human body. Its continued practice must mean racial suicide. (2) The unrestricted and surreptitious sale and distribution of contraceptives, abortifacient drugs and vile literature, to young people especially, and the unblushing exposure for sale of disgusting illustrated papers, are wrong, and are grievously undermining the moral fibre of thousands." The conference demands "that the Government deals drastically and at once with these evils." The conference appeals:— "(1) To men, for chivalry and selfsacrific© in regard to the conduct of their sex lives. (2) To all parents, guardians and teachers, to realise that all education in such matters must rest upon spiritual foundations, because true morality can continue to exist only where the laws of God aj-e taught and honoured. (3) To all seriousminded people who have at heart the moral welfare of their nation, to restore the religious and moral standards which God has given us, and upon which alone our civilisation has been built up and can continue."