A Private Member’s Bill to amend the Abortion Act has been introduced in Parliament and has received its Second Reading in the Commons. Instead of now going to a Standing Committee, the Bill is to be dealt with by a Select Committee as this will permit a wider study of the subject and also allow for evidence from experts. Mr James White, Labour MP for Pollok, Glasgow, who sponsored the new Bill said that abuses under the 1967 Act had become a public scandal.
So far as it goes the Bill is welcome but we fear it will not undo all the evils for which the Abortion Act of 1967 is responsible. The figure for abortions has risen since the Act was passed to the colossal number of 166,000 in 1973. In 1974 for the first time since abortion became ‘legal,’ the figure fell by 3,000 to 163,000. Yet over against this has to be put the fact that in England and Wales alone the number of abortions on girls under 16 rose to 3,243 in 1974, an increase of 150 on the 1973 figures. It is reckoned too, that 54,000 foreign women had abortions in this country.
What a sad reflection these figures are on the spiritual and moral standing of our nation. Britain has given the lead in this nefarious traffic and other nations are beginning to amend their laws to come into line with the practice in this country. May the Lord, in His mercy, speedily open the eyes of the leaders of the nation to see the awful nature of these evil practices.
Film Censorship
An attempt to abolish its film censorship powers for adults over 18 was defeated in the Greater London Council by 50 votes to 44. It is heartening to know that the Greater London Council came to this decision even although it was by a relatively narrow majority. Even with the measure of censorship which is still retained many of the films which do pass the censor are wholly unfit for public display. No doubt other attempts will be made to abolish censorship. Even already it is reported that a group of Labour MPs have begun a campaign to press the Government to introduce a Bill which would effectively abolish film censorship by local authorities.