The anti-abortion organisations (SPUC. Life, etc) in particular have been building up the "polifical" side of their campaign. private member's Bill to introduce strict imitations on the grounds for abortion and to restrict abortions to within 20 weeks of pregnancy (from the present 28) gets its second reading in the House of Commons on Friday 7 February The anti-abortion orpanisations must be very pleased that this bill has a Labour sponsor - James White, Labour MP for Glasgow Pollok-for this reinforces their efforts to portray their fight agrinst abortion as a mon-party, non-class questicm. The Labour Party's own determined refusal take posilion on abortion contrbuted to the success of the antr-abortion organisations; and in addition it shows the limits any commitment by the Labour Party to the fight for women's tights LABOUR However Liere is some polarisa- that. tom within the Labour Party itselr question of abortion. women Labour Mis have sponsored the campaign launched in early January by the Abortion Law Relorn Association which will work for every woman to have the right to control her own fertility through contraception, if she becomes pregnant, to end or continue her pregnancy as she wishes.
The campaign calls for 'abortion on request up to the (welfth week Red Weekly 6 February 1975 Page 8 medica! to bas of prenancy TIsk to the woman's the only ground for rofusal after Recognising that the ability of contraception and aborSix Lion HONG will not provide women with any real choice, also demands improved state assistance to mother- improved family allowances, and local authority boasing provision.
The ALRA campaign, combined and abortion in the Working Women's Charter, provides the opportunity to extend the work the women's liberation on contraception and abortion, and The Catholic element is to the fore in the new attempes to roll back the Abortion Act anacceptable labour movement for the availdemand as a legal right. most NATIONAL HEALTH it The financial and political crisis in che National Health Service makes it even more importaal to teke up these quesTOCI. hOW. contraception became availabic and with the demand for contraception under the NETS, faruily doctom ace stili SHOL freely ception because the alterations to of movement finalised.
optional extra. expendable thir struggle.
to tight for wider support within Joseph), who believe that social establishnient of freo abortion on children.
Ten months after that as Weprescribing contrawhich are specially important to women are wideiy regarded as an position of consultants working to rule, who in many paris of the North Rest have been refusing to undertake NHS abortions for social When it comes to ciosing hospitals it seems that wo A Garret Anderson and the Liverpool men's hospitals like the Elizabeth Road branch of the Royal Free in London are particularly easily In demanding free contraception and abortion on demand now are righting for the provision of medical facilities to serve peoble's needs, And we parce this parricular demand cleari in tie contex of the struggie for woment IberaSien, seving thar the righ of owen to control their own bod ier it oe necemo ciement in In this we distinguish ourselves firmaly from the reactionary supporten of contraception and abortion (suca as Sir Keich problems could be avuided it only the working class had fewer The traditions of the labour movement and of the socialist movement, have been particularly confused and inadequate in relation to chia question in the past. and it is important develop activit sgainst White's Bill and in suppor! of the ALRA compaign and che Working Women's Charter we do so on the clear politicat basis outlined people defied De Geulle's ban to march through Paris in solidarity with the Ai gerien struggle and to gel Fresch troop OUT, AT SN0 Charronne Metro mratian! the riot police charged -no the Algeria part of the demonstration and pushed a section of it down the Metro stair weil. They then threw heavy iron gratings and marbie cafe-tables onto the hoads of the demonstrator beiow In this incident and tha ansting dolo. riot, hundreds of demonstrators were At the funeral af those killed, a mil Jon people marched - the biggest dem anstration in Paris since the end of World War Two. Despite the terror tac tics of the French army in Algeria, the vicinus intimidation of the solidarity bombings of the pro-colonial, semfascist CAS, France was finaliy foroed to withoraw from the colony six MOLI TaCU 9 FEBRUARY, 1972: In the thid huge Saltley coke depot in Birmingham was still open, despite the attempts to ciase it by miners flying picker Ther the local urea of the Engineering Union called for a half day strike in solidarity with the miners: and 10,000 workers marched on the depot to clase it down siang win miners tram Scodlaa Vinh Yorkehire and Durhem. After brief res stance by the total y autnumborcd police, the depot mas finaily closed This event was really the turning PoIt Dr tae pie siria, Wich 1 selt was a real blow to the Tory gevernment's anti-working ciass measures. it demonstratad to thousands of wore 5 09 Lis tre co ance or toros COACO UNUSSSEN OTIAAD the course af svenss, nat what the law or the police say. This wes demonstrated ugsin later in that year, when mass action by thausands of workers go: the five Landes dockers out of SE BoltrE Kines
or revampine productive cap,bur paying back the capit-
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their cuntracl lave sull not been aborc. It seems that areas of medicine Margret Coulson