Corrie Bi faces axe
Socialist Press1980 1980-03-05Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 12 →
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Defenders of women's rights seem on the point of witnessing the gratifying spectacle of John Corrie's reactionary anti-abortion Bill sinking with all clauses in the House of Commons.
Corrie's initial bigoted insistence on retaining the whole of' his vicious Bill-which would have made up to two-thirds of existing abortions. illegal-has been a major factor in its! undoing. It enabled sufficient amendments to be tabled for the measure to be talked out of the time available in the Commons timetable.
The only lingering hope for the anti-abortionists is that time might be found by hurried treatment of a short private member's Bill on updating child maintenance payments.
The foundering of the Bill is clearly related to the overwhelming evidence of hostility to it among an overall majority of adults, and surveys that showed that one in three women of child bearing age would be prepared to defy the Corrie restrictions if faced with an unwanted pregnancy.
It is plainly little to do with any organised or principled stand against the Bill by the right-wing led Parliamentary Labour Party, which has consistently refused to put down a three-line whip on MPs to vote in line. with Party conference policy on abortion and against Corrie:
The Parliamentary fight in defence of abortion rights has been carried on by a small handful of Tribunite left MPs.
Indeed only 346 out of 656• MPs were present in the Commons last Friday for the debate on the Corrie Bill.
The absence of large numbers of Labour MPs on this• crucial issue must be challenged by trade unionists and Party members in their constituencies and those that support Corrie or fail to vote against anti-abortion | measures must be removed.