In 1967, the Abortion Act was passed. It allowed pregnancies to be terminated on a wide number of grounds up to 28 weeks’ gestation. The act, from which Northern Ireland was exempt, was passed on a free vote but, as with Row vs Wade in the United States, the argument went on. One of the prime dissenters was the Conservative MP Norman St John-Stevas. In this piece from 1969, Jane McKerron laid out the case as to why the act, although not perfect, was a good one and why St John-Stevas’s arguments and those of the anti-abortion lobby were both medically and morally indefensible. Were the act to be amended or repealed, said McKerron, illegal abortions would increase and greater numbers of women would die seeking terminations.
The opponents of abortion law reform are remarkably bad losers. Not content with strenuous attempts to ambush the Abortion Act on its progress through parliament, almost two years later they are still sniping at it from the rear. The most recent and ominous firing has come from Mr Norman St John-Stevas, Conservative MP for Chelmsford, who plans to introduce an amending bill in the House of Commons on 15 July.
Content from our partners
