The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 9

Tuesday June 26 1979 9 Medical knowledge 50 years ago deemed that a foetus could survive at 28 weeks. Now the boundaries are being pushed back and Mr John Corrie's Bill appealing Cor the time limit on abortions to be shortened will be called today. Liz Forgan examines the ethics and practicalities. THE ulder a foetus, the more liiN a human being it looks ITic greater the distress tlie mother who loses it, tlie nurses who liavu to (lis-pose of it and the general public who read stories about live babies being left tu die an draining hoards. Late abortions worry even committed supporters of the Abortion Act and for good reason.

Twenty-eight weeks, the latest a legal abortion can be performed under the present Act, is seven muiiths into a pregnancy. The fact that only a tiny fraction (1 per cent) of all aburlions arc done after 20 weeks and only a tinier fraction (0.2 per cent or a total of 164 terminations) arc done at 24 weeks or later does not alter the way people feel about it. It is that feeling together with the composition of the new House of Commons which gives John Corrie's Private Member's Bill a better chance of success than any of the other attempts to tighten up the Abortion Act over the last two years. The Bill which is being called today and will be debated on July 13 focuses on a proposal to bring the time limit down from 28 weeks to 20 (with exceptions on medical grounds only) and though there is much argument about exactly which week to draw the line at. Mr Corrie (Tory MP for Bute and North Ayrshire) is certainly right when he says there is a large majority among MPs for putting an end to late abortions.

But that is not all the Bill seeks to do. There arc throe other main provisions which would allow medical staff to refuse to take part in terminations on any grounds whatever, would require that one of the two authorising doctors was of at least five year's standing in the profession and would make referral agencies as well as clinics go through an oftlcial licensing system. It is clear that if the Bill becomes law it will restrict access to legal abortion by putting additional obstacles of them will not even advise a woman where she may go to find someone who will. NHS resources are stretched. There are hospitals large numbers of the nursing staff will not assist at abortions; that is their 'right' too but it does not help a woman when the weeks are ticking away.

It would be nonsense to suggest that doctors or nurses who object tn abortion should be forced to perform them and it really does not matter what the grounds for their objections are. But Mr Corrie adds further obstacles with his proposal to licence referral agencies though there is little or no evidence of abuses and to ban newly qualified doctors from authorising abortions. Again he offers no evidence that young doctors have been guilty of misdeeds or any other coherent explanation as to why someone who is licensed tn prescribe powerful drugs or make life-and-death decisions in hnspitals the minute he gets out of medical school, be considered unfit fsr this one single aspect of a doctor's work until he has been qualified for five years. What we are worried about that two youngsters could come out of university and go straight into running a referral agency. Authorising an abortion is not like other medicine, it is a matter of opinion whether a woman comes under the condtions of the Act." he said and added "There is a growing feeling amung gynaecologists that if you are not an abortionist you might as well forget about gynaecology as a profession, and that's a very sad situation." Nowhere in this Bill is there a mention of the need for any provision for women whose doctors object categorically to abortion on conscience grounds, or for women in areas where NHS facilities are inadequate.

The essential corollary to banning late abortions is provision for getting an early one if yon fulfil the legal requirements to do so but there is not a word on the subject in this Bill. That, says Corrie, is a job for the DHSS. John in the way of a woman seeking one. The question is whether those obstacles arc necessary reforms or a backdoor means of attacking the substance of the Abortion Act. There is no doubt that there are MPs who would happily repeal the 1967 Act altogether but recognise that any attempt to do so would probably fail.

Mr Corrie says he is not of that group. But the pro-abortion lobby is perfectly well aware that those who secretly favour repeal will call instead for reform, on tactical grounds, which is why even apparently reasonable moves to correct abuses have been fought tooth and nail. So is the 1967 Act perfect or is there a genuine case for making it more ethical as Mr Corrie maintains? The legal time limit of 28 weeks is actually laid down in the Infant Life (Preservation) Act of 1929 and is based on the age at which medical knowledge 50 years ago deemed that a foetus was viable could survive. That limit is now out of date. We are pushing the boundaries back more and more," says Professor Richard Beard, Professor of Obstetrics at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington.

After 22 weeks we are getting to the stage where a baby is viable: 22 weeks is really too soon at the moment but in a few years it might well be possible." He himself favours fixing on 22 weeks as that would allow time for genetic tests to be carried out where necessary but would also allow for a woman to have got her dates wrong and to be several weeks later in her pregnancy than she thought. He added, that he was not aware of feeling in the medical profession that there was any major problem in the way most late abortions were carried out. He is, however, worried that the law as it stands does allow the abortion of a viable foetus. But why should anyone wait so long? Should the law not force women to make up their minds sooner There is very little accurate information about who has late abortions and why. Just over 10 per cent of late abortions (after 20 weeks) were carried out on girls of 15 or under in 1976 according to the latest official figures.

Another recognised group in the late category are abortions carried out (mostly on the NHS) on the grounds or foetal abnormalities which could not be discovered earlier in the pregnancy. One of the few studies of late abortions in the private sector was published last year by Dr Colin Brewer in the Journal of Biosocial Medicine. It was a survey of the 40 women aborted between the 20th and 24th Chanting slogans against rape seems reasonable to promote awareness, but what about the hissing and swearing at any innocent male and the cries of 'Castrate men' Carrie, MP that a reason for forcing them to bear a child tHey finally decided they did not want, provided always that it was not a viable baby that was aborted The argument that life begins at the moment of conception has been rejected by the 1967 Act. We are concerned now with the argument that life begins when a foetus is viable a matter of medical science rather than theology and that is narrowing down to an argument over 20, 22, or 24 weeks. Mr Corrie acknowledges that 20 weeks is not.

at the moment, a viable foetus but Intends fixing that limit because I would think that within three years we are going to make survival at that stage possible and there is no point in having to tinker with the Act again. Let's be a little brave and go for 20 weeks now," hr said. After 20 weeks aboi- and asked why some women had painted their faces and come dressed as men." They articulated the alienation that most women feel when confronted with the women's movement in action. The Edinburgh women didn't think much of the architecture I'd hate to live there. All those horrible little boxes." One BPW woman said she liked it.

but she was marching because there had been so many attacks recently and she felt that something should be done about the many lonely, underlit walkways, deserted backcourts and lock-ups, and especially about the dark connecting tunnels with no lighting. (She had a teenage daughter.) One of the marchers was carrying a placard, but hiding its message, which was Itape It Could Happen To Your Daughter. I don't agree with it. I wouldn't like tn think of my daughter as my possession." But isn't it just an expression of sympathy with a person raped your sister, your friend Rape is a highly political area and capitalism had reared its ugly head. On our way home at last, I wondered whether the onlookers had realised what we were protesting about, whether we ourselves really understood the issues involved.

Would the local women march alongside the paint-smeared radicals, or put down the placards and turn to other more traditional ways instead Were shack tactics essential or were they working against the interests of No one seemed to know, nr rare. We had a final chorus of If I was the only girl in the world. And you were the only bov, NOTHING and after hugs and kisses all round, we went our separate ways. several carved wooden chess pieces across the room, breaking them and causing damage to the chessboard. Despite my intentions to be a good Euro-hostess, I sent him to bed early with a stern threat that his behaviour would be reported to his tutor the following day.

Later I went upstairs to find him clutching his rosary and rolling his eyes heavenwards. "Please don't tell my tutor," he begged. "He said that if he has one more complaint about me he will put me on the next flight to Madrid." Regretting my display of bad temper I offered him a glass of orange juice. Thank you," he said. "I'll have a plate of chocolate biscuits and a packet of crisps as well.

And can you please get the International Operator for me THE first Reclaim The Night march we attended was a disaster. It was held in the Meadows, a notorious stretch of open parkland in Edinburgh, and after some radio publicity encouraging those opposed to rape to join the demonstration, my friend, her brother and I decided to go along. We were all sympathetic to the principles of the women's liberation movement but we left the crowd of shouting, torch-bearing women when it became clear that my friend's brother was running the risk of personal mutilation if he remained with us. He was a man. and, after all, "all men arc potential rapists." So my thinking was sume-what coloured on the politics of rape and its translation into action, but I decided to join another Reclaim The Night march in Cumbernauld, one damp Saturday evening.

The New Town has slipped by on many motorway trips, tower blocks concrete grey and blank-windowed, brooding on the low central hills between the older, dirtier conurbations to the west and east of Scotland. With the finest intentions, the planners have banished the car to the peripheries and people, therefore, are nowhere to be seen. Twenty-five of us travelled by hired coach from Edinburgh. The paranoia endemic among certain members of the women's movement was manifest as women painted fearsome designs and clenched fist symbols on their faces, and one muttered But I'm not happy about him," indicating the driver, unperturbedly concentrating on the motorway traffic. Songs were sung, but instead of the coyly risque repertory of the hockey bus, there were the favourites love women, hate men and above all, don't get married "Here I sland, my knife in hand.

Free castration on demand I week in two private clinics during the study period. The average age of the patients was 18.5 years, the youngest was 15 and the oldest 37. The reasons for late termination were in 11 cases a history of significant menstrual irregularity, i changed their minds having originally decided to have the baby, five had been misdiagnosed bv their doctors and told they were not pregnant, five had been refused an abortion or sympathetic advice by doctors, and the Test were classified as "wishful thinking." They just hoped it would go away. Just over half the women in that study, therefore, cither had not Jtnown they were pregnant in time to have an earlier abortion or had tried to have one sooner but been baulked by their doctors. The other half might he considered indecisive or merely silly, but is Spelling out the messnye with some Cumbernauld women from the Business and Professional Women's Association, their high heels, skirts and raincoats contrasting with our lace-up hoots, dungarees and parkas.

They asked Where do vou girls come from Yes, they realised that people lived very differently in Edinburgh, but thev were worried about the swearing head in bewilderment and left the room. Javier liked to telephone his parents in Madrid every evening, but the International Op'ator was fully booked for many hours with calls to Spain, and the calls wnuld be put through at unpredictable times. On one occa in I found myself connected on a person-to-person call with Javier's father, who does not speak a word of English (and I do not speak Spanish). Javier was not in the house and his father, unable to understand me, assumed that I was calling to inform him of some mishap which had befallen his son. Although the money paid by the visitors seemed more than adequate when the trip was arranged, it did not in fact cover all eventualities.

There was the time, for instance, when Javier threw tiou on social grounds alone would be illegal but late abortions could still be done Dn certain medical grounds affecting either the health of the mother or the child. There is one major argument against putting a stop to late abortions, with all their dangers and distaste-fulness and the trouble with Mr Corrie's Bill is that its other provisions only serve to bolster that argument. Nobody would choose to wait six or seven months into a pregnancy before having an abortion, but for certain women in certain areas of the country the business of getting one is made so difficult that even a woman who wants and qualifies for a legal NHS abortion the minute she knows hc is pregnant can face months nf delay. There arc GPs and powerful consultants influencing whole area who will not countenance abortion that is their right. But sumc Counter spy Diana Pollock CHECK vacuum flks before you buy even the best manufacturers produce an occasional rogue.

Both screw tops and stoppers shuuld lit perfectly, and although glass linings break more easily than plastic, they do a better job. Similarly with cuol ba's. Check that seams are well-sewn, zips and handles (irmly anchored. The handles should tuck down for storage, and the lids should iil snugly. Some have already added the new VAT rate, others are holding prices until stock runs out.

I ask your indulgence if some items cost a few pence more. The original Thermos company has two flasks, both with large openings and side handles. The Super Food Flask holds half a litre and costs 3.30; the Super Family Food Flask holds 0.85 litre and costs 4.05. They ore holding their prices until August. Available from chemists, larger hardware shops and department stores throughout the country.

Supa iippa The Supa Sippa will please the children even if it drives the parents mad, This tunc, 14in. Ions, with a hook fitting and a plastic straw will keep sticky drinks cuol and unspilled in a car. It can be frozen, complete with contents, and is virtually unbreakable. Price 1.50, from Self ridges. Insulex has three sizes of vacuum Jar, all with handles and wide necks.

Their Snack Jar (1 litre) is 3.39, the Food Jar (1 litre) 5.52. and large Picnic jar (1.7 litres) which is 9in. tall has an extra container inside to separate different kinds of food, and costs 7.12. All three are in white with a choice of red or blue lids and are at Barkers of Kensington in London as well as at all nine branches of the Army Navy Stores, Sisters under the skin they may have been, but when Dot French joined a feminist demo she found her fellow marchers an ill-assorted bunch Strangers in the night The Isotherm 601 (2.981 is shaped like a traditional water bottle. Made of white plastic, has a shoulder strap and claims three-fold insulation.

Their Wonder Jug. is lGin. high, holds 1.9 litres, costs about 2S. and has a spout that you can use without removing the lid. A beautiful piece of equipment.

Both from a selection from Selfridges. Timothy White have their own brand of large vacuum lla.sk, 12in high and with bath a mug and cup in three sizes 1 litre 2.40, -litre 1.50. i litre 1.30. "They also have a series of Conl Bans. 14in high, 12in wide and 6in deep.

Boot'', ccolbe picnic set Buots' Cnolbox comes with four plates, four matching mugs, and three food con-tamers all in coffee and cream colours. One container holds 3.5 litres and two hold 1 litre each. All have lids. The Coolbox itself, without the containers holds 25 litres. The handle slots down over the lid so the whole measures 17in wide, 16in high, and 10m deep.

An ice pack can he added. About 16 at Boots department stores along with smaller coolbags, vacuum flasks, ice pack (about 40p) and Nordic ice bottles (also 40p). Tiger jugs Harrod- have two versions of the Tiger vacuum container a pitcher with chrome body and brown trim has a strong metal spout, which could make worth and its more modest hrother. the Tiger Vacuum Jus. only S.50 but with a more vulnerable spout made mi' rmd plastic.

Both are Japanese imports and hold one litre. Larger branches of British Home Stores have something cailed a Canada Style portable cool box lactually made in Itah). This is another of thuse handsome, rigid plastic-bodied boxes (14lin wide, 16in high and 9hn deep). The handle fits over one side of the box for storage, the lid has magnetic catches, and there is a removable plastic grille half way up with a slot to hold an ice oack. The grille will also separate different kinds of food.

The box has a free ice pack, holds 25 litres, and costs 11.50. BUS also have cool bags in PVC (2.99), and until the end of the month. Aladdin vacuum flasks at 1,25 (16oz) and 1.99 (32oz), OB ing areas of the New Town. Torches and placards were distributed and we set off, in full cry. The tactics used were not discussed or, I felt, agreed upon.

Chanting slogans, carrying placards and posting stickers against rape seem reasonable actions to promote awareness of the situation and to gather sympathy for the cause, but what about Carol Ibbett thought she was doing Javier and Pascal turned out to be Euro-students who her bit for Europe when she offered to take in two foreign students. But more than she bargained for. threw our welcome out of the window It was a field day for the psychologist. We met the local women and other smaller groups from Stirling and Glasgow in the parking lot beside the huge, windowless shopping centre. Organisation is a male characteristic it seems, and it took some time to find out where we were marching not to Kilsyth as rumoured, but instead round the hous boy, and Pascal, a 15 year old French student.

I was to provide breakfast, a packed lunch and an evening meal throughout the week, when the boys would he attending their classes, and full board at weekend, unless the boys had arranged to join other activities. I was happy at the prospect of welcoming the two boys into an English family. The first problem arose because of the meals I was offering. Neither boy cared for salad, casserole, chops or roasts, and these were neatly dropped from the dining room window when I was not looking. The Spanish boy Only wanted beefburgers, chips and tomato ketchup.

The packed lunches, he said, were so small that he was starving. I was providing him with eight sandwiches, a hard boiled egg, a tomato, a hissing and swearing at any innocent male bystanders who happen to be in the way, or the cries of Curfew for Men," "Death to Rapists" and Castrate Men There is a hard core of separatists in the movement who see all men as The Enemy and envisage an all-female society. These women were swearing at any men nearbv. Part of the time I walked them there after an early breakfast, and providing them with packed lunches and brinks. There was a lack of harmony between them which caused a strained atmosphere in the house.

I thought that Pascal was bwng intimidated by Javier, but although I heard occasional groans, cries and thumps, whenever I went upstairs to see what was happening, both hoys were sitting warily on their beds. The tension was increased by the fact that Pascal, possibly wishing to remain a tabula rasa, never spoke a word to me in either Eng-glish or French throughout his stay. In desperation one day I began to speak to him in my O-level French. "A demain vous allez au bord de la mer," I said, as clearly as I could. He scratched his THE provision of accommodation for foreign students is becoming a thriving cottage industry, but it is not without its hazards.

Two years ago I offered a spare twin-bedded room to at. agengy advertising for families to entertain French and Spanish students for four weeks. I thought my own children would benefit, and that it would be an enjoyable experience for the whole family. The students were visiting England in school groups in order to improve their conversational English and learn something about lis country. They were expected to speak English throughout their stay, and students the same nationality were not allowed! to stay in the same house.

My guests were to be 13 year old Spanish sausage roll and a packet of crisps, together with chocolate biscuits, cake and fruit. I increased his packed lunches until he needed two boxes to carry them in. The amount of food consumed seemed to be enormous, particularly at breakfast, when I was producing a massive output of toast. In the end I discoverd that Javier was taking all the available food in the house to his English classes, and selling it to his fellow students. Another problem was caused by the boys' apparently limitless energy.

They were up before seven and seldom in bed earlier than midnight. And there were' Saturday excursions to distant cities which sometimes started at 5 am. The boys had to assemble at a point near their school, and I was responsible for delivering.