ABORTION MENACE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 46, 17 November 1937, Page 4

ABORTION MENACE

-PresB A«BOciation.»

Presbyterian Assembly's Discussion

(By Telegraph-

AUCKLAND, Last Night. The abortion menace in New Zealand and the use of contraceptives were among the chief subjects dealt with in the report of the public questions committee submitted to the Presbyterian General Assembly last night. The convener of the committee, the Rev. J. T. Macky, said that the chief cause of criminal abortion was the lowering of the moral standards, for which the church must accept responsibility. They must instruct their young people that this evil thing would not be so much stamped out by law as overcome by nobler ideals. Wherever conception would be wrong or inadvisable, they could not condemn the use of scientifie means of prevention, if thoughtfully and conscientiously applied. The Rev. P. G. Hughes said that contraception had been practised from the time, of Adam and the choice today was between the blnndering method and the scientifie metKod. Twen-tieth-century man had made his choice. The Government was urged to introdqce legislation prohibiting the advertisement' of abortifacients and allowing their sale only on medical prescription. A serious complaint was made of the weakness of the law which allowed the vast majority of criminal abortionists to escape and the Government was asked to make the law more effective.