Grumbles are now coming even from the Home Office about the problems contained in James White's Abortion (Amendment) Bill. Hints are being dropped that the Bill will probably be shelved. Even some Labour MPs who oppose the Bill are now saying: "Look, the Campaign is not so important now. The Bill will But the Home Office has no intention of tossing out White's Bill and replacing it with one that gives women the right to choose and provides free abortion and contraception on demand inside the National "impracticable'. Furthermore, the wave of protest that has begun to sweep through the labour movement against this reactionary Bill is making a number of Labour politicians more than a little uncomfortable.
not go through.
It is these twin pressures which are leading to a situation where the Bill will either be shelved, or drastically amended. But does that solve the problem? Even the status quo is insufficient. The 1967 Abortion Act represented a gain but it did not give women the right to choose. It did not provide a full and comprehensive contraception and abortion service freely available to all women on the National. Health.
Whilst it is correct to defend the gains made in 1967 against the attacks of White and his cohorts, the campaign must go beyond a defence of the 1967 Act. It must insist on the unfettered and unqualified right of the woman to take the decision on whether she wants to have a child or not. Legislation For many of those who support restrictions on abortion - and there are a good number to be found in the precincts of the Home Office - the real fault of the White Bill is its clumsiness. They would prefer a more sophisticated Bill to be drafted, which would serve the same purpose, but in a less obvious way. In no sense cah any reliance be put on these civil servants and the capitalist politicians.
The National Abortion Campaign demonstration this weekend has been built as the result of a determined nation-wide campaign. NAC has opposed all restrictive legislation on abortion and has won over to that position not just women but many workers inside the trade unions.
A lot of people who first supported NAC on this one demand have learned through the campaign that women's rights are also restricted by the 1967 Act. Many of them have been won over to supporting free abortion on demand.
NAC has also driven home some good lessons in working class internationalism. On the demonstration will be contingents from all over Europe. By fighting the restrictions on foriegn women having abortions — a central aim of White's Bill - NAC has extended the hand of international solidarity to the women in those countries in Europe who suffer from even more restrictive and reactionary legislaon abortion than their British sisters.
Just as it is correct to fight the repression of the Chilean workers, so it is correct to fight the vile laws of the Italian state which result in 2-3,000 Italian working women dying each year as a result of the abortion laws there.
The NAC campaign has shown the potential strength that women possess when they organise. What is more, it has spelt out to the labour movement a clear and dramatic sson — to ignore the right of women to choose is both dangerous and politically criminal. The 21 June demonstralon is not a 'women's' demonstration. NAC supporters picketing King's College Hospital in South London last week were supported by many of the staff The Home Office grounds for wanting to reject the White Bill are on the basis that it is Whatever happens to the White Bill, the fight for the right of women to control their own lives must not only movement has been created not only on the question of abortion, but also around the whole Working Women's in unifying the labour movement and can thereby show women that their road to emancipation lies through the working class movement.
Irrespective of what happens to the White Bill, NAC should be working out concrete and practical steps for the next period. A national conference of NAC will probably take place in the autumn. Before then a series of local and regional conferences should be held to discuss both the way forward and the broadening of the campaign.
6.
What support is the NAC campaign getting from the labour of Jackson Boifers in Leeds and a member of the IMG, who is currently leading a stoppage over the annual negotiations.
Why did your AUEW shop stewards committee decide to support the NAC demonstration in Leeds on 14 Ju an casincerine we knownor woinen are discriminated against no apprenticeships, regradingto avoid equal pay, and so on. The equal pay clause is always the first one to be dropped in any pay negotiations.
But women aren't just discriminated against on the shop-floor.
They can't play a full part in union activities because they have It is a demonstration to go nome to a second job of national conferences. ing class continue but be extended. A basis for a big, genuine united fighting these groups.
Such a campaign can play a vital role movement? We asked TONY MAGUIRE, AUEW convenor even without the James White Bill.
Wing bie cuts in Leeds on health.
Not being able to get an ab- education, everything, and so ortion if you need one is just that Il mean even less chance of part of this. That's why we dec- abortions on the NHS. We'll be ided to go on the demo on Sat- picketing the next council meetanday with the Jackion Boilers ing about this, on 25 June. banner.
What is the situation in attitude?
Leeds as regards getting an is a Labour MP. We've learnt not I was talking to a nurse who to expect much from the Leeds Labour MPs was saying that as far as she knew Healey's one of them. But the they'd only performed two abor- NAC campaign can put enough tions in six months on the NHS pressure on them to make them al me women s nospital. And vote against White, even if it's Among banners on Leeds NAC demo last Saturday was that of Jackson Boilers AUEW Shop Stewards Committee-see interview with convenor Tony Maguire below.
The Women's Trades Union Congress meeting in March went on record for "free contraception and abortion on demand provided by the NHS. NAC should make it a central priority to get that resolution endorsed in every trade union branch, trades council and work towards getting it adopted by all the unions when they hold their The Labour Party has played a disgusting role on the White Bill. It has stubbornly refused to take any position, thereby providing a 'bi-partisan' cover for this anti-working class legislation. NAC should fight to get Constituency Labour Parties to support the Women's TUC resolution, so that when the Labour Party Conference meets in Blackpool this year it goes on record for that resolution.
National Health Service
It is not possible to fight for free contraception and ab ortion inside the National Health Service without taking a stand against the cuts in social expenditure. In 1972, only 34 per cent of all abortions were done in the NHS. The rest were carried out in the private sector - costing never less than £60, often well over £200.
The decline of the NHS, resulting in hospital closures like the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital and the Liverpool Road Hospital, means still less facilities for abortion. At the same time the racketeering grows in the private sector.
It is working class people - - particularly women - who are most drastically affected by cuts in the NHS. NAC should therefore link itself with the conference being called by the Medical Committee Against Private Practice, which aims to unify all those forces fighting for a full and comprehensive health service based on the needs of the workIf the White Bill gets defeated or is shelved, organisations like the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child, groups like Catholic Action, and all the other anti-abortion groups will be enraged. There is no doubt that they will redouble their efforts to get new anti-abortion legislation prepared and accepted. NAC must set itself the task of It must be prepared to organise counter-demonstrations. It must mobilise teachers and students in the NUSS to oppose SPUC's propaganda in the schools. It must hold regular meetings in the areas and it must turn out leaflets and pamphlets defending women's right to choose For this campaign to be successful it means drawing in ever-larger numbers of women. It means taking the issues into the factories, the classrooms, the offices and onto the housing estates. But it also needs the support of all serious socialists and trade unionists who must give it their full and unstinted backing. an abortion, and pay - and that s Also the city council is maksee it aş a moral thing, you decide according to your conscience, What's the Labour Party's but for us it's a political question, of discrimination against women, and especially working class woIt's disgusting that James White men who can't afford Harley Street clinics.
- after all, Denis If the Bill is passed, what's the next step?
We've heard that some doo
red weekly 19 june 1975 i soviet women
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