Abortion Fight No Single Issue

Scan page 8

As part of the campaign to fend and extend the right to portion a National Tribunal • Abortion Rights is to be id in Central Hall, London • January 29th, organised by le National impaign.

The reason for the Tribunal is to Bect the pro-abortion facts the ECOHSE SAYS THE EGAL REMANSE ON SITE Parliamentary Select Committee is ignoring and to campaign for opposition to the new William Benyon Abortion (Amendment) Bill.

The Select Committee is made up of anti-abortionists, as all the pro-abortionists (who were in the minority) resigned when the committee was reconvened.

The Tribunal is hoping to expose the Select Committee report by THE HOSPIRI WORKERS TIlS WCHERS IS UNDER CONTRAR CONIRCL ACH collecting evidence on bortion from a public platform and to start to give wider publicity to the contents of Benyon's Bill.

INADEQUATE These are admirable aims but left at that level are, in the present situation, completely inadequate.

This is epitomised by NAC'S parliamentary orientation and the isolation of the Campaign due to its concentration on abortion and only abortion.

The fight for abortion on demand on the NHS is automatically connected with the general and wider struggles for women's rights and the fight against the cuts in the NHS.

But NAC only mentions the cuts in their literature in relation to the way they restrict abortions and at the same time do not campaign around the closure of abortion facilities at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital for Women -which at one stroke has brought about a drastic reduction in the number of abortions carried out in the Camden area of London.

DANGEROUS

It is, of course, necessary to publicise the role of the Parliamentary Select Committee and the dangerous. backward and reactionaly proposals of the "Benyon Bill' which will restrict the number of safe, legal abortions available to women.

The exact details of the Bill are not yet available, but it is believed that it will contain eight clauses.

The most restrictive proposal is to reduce the number of pregnancy weeks before which an abortion can be carried out from 28 to 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Because no date in pregnancy is entirely accurate, doctors tend to allow two weeks for safety, so the effective deadline would be only 18 weeks of pregnancy.

NOT CONNECTED One of the other clauses expected to be in the Bill restricts doctors' rights as well as women's by saying the two doctors who authorise an abortion must not be "connected with eachother" , and that one of them should have been registered for at least five years.

This will hit the charity clinics hardest as they are the places women often turn to if they can't get or won't go to their GP for It would be more time consuming and difficult for a clinic doctor to find another doctor not connected with them - and who defines "connection"?

The Bill will also affect counselling agencies, police access to abortion records, and fines for illegal abortion.

But the most effective way of publicising these facts is by turning to the trade union and wider labour movement in a serious way.

BREAK

NAC must therefore break from their parliamentary orientation and reactionary policy, of campaigning with anyone (even Tories) who are pro-abortion.

So while members of the WSL will attend the Tribunal they will do so to fight for the National Abortion Campaign to turn to the trade union and labour movement.

This means starting effective campaigns on issues like supporting the occupation of the EGA, lighting for the defence of the NHS as a whole and for women's'rights through struggles on every day problems facing women - like pay, conditions and nursery facilities.

In this way, the issue of the rights to abortion can be brought into its proper context in todays class struggle and not remain isolated as a single issue.

Scan page 9

rage s curbed.

----- pull-quotes -----

PAMD IRADES COUNGR