abortion by imposing exists.
group Women in THE ISSUE of abortion is highly having as it does ethical, religious and political implications, tendency for people to sit on the fence and declare that it does them. It is solely as issue, but in wider implications as trade union issue and affects everyone.
So long freely available the question of the reliablity of workers lurks background women, the unions face an added dithiculty in working equality in the workplace.
When the government attacks the ability of one section workforce to work, unived for tie necess rise this power of the union Whatever your particular chical view on abortion, that is your right as an individual; but neither the law nor any religion classifies the foetus as an independent human Miscarriages are neither given a death certificate nor a religious As union the should expect protect the rights of all workers official to exercise as much control as possible over their worklife and prosecuting doctors who challenged recent DHSS moves to restrict women's right to tion form on the health service, the threat still We reprint here an article written by a of Post Office engineers Telecoms who argue POEU should defend the right to abortion.
emotive but there is a continue decision on her.
not affect thought of women's fact has abortion is not pregnancy. women somewhere and their employers and towards itself the mother's health.
LOTS political being. of donis.
members our unions to pared choose, a restrictive notificaple, would active in likc Dr that the their career development. That The means supporting the right an individual woman to decide whether or not she wishes to an unwanted pregnancy and not impose that The public debate around on women abortion has its reflection in the TU movement. Both the TUC Labou Party now understand abortion to be a union issue and have committed themselves to taking action to gain the right of individual women to decide whether not to continue an unwanted quest.
Before the *67 Abortion Act abortion was illegal and women broke the law. If they were rich a private hospital gave them a tion". If they were poor they us gynaecologica operawhelming ed knitting needles or gin.
The passing of th '67 Act made abortion legal if two doc abortion act. tors agreed there were grounds which made the continuance of the pregnancy more a danger to of The doctor could take into tion account the effect of social facleaves the legal, and moral interpretation of the act to the discretion tal part control has lead to large tility" regional abnormalities: for example, in Dudly six per cent of abortions are on the NHS comSOCE CCIE Hartlepool. It is unacceptable that whether or not a woman gets an abortion is the result of the issue of a woman's right to Abortion does not appear in the section on women, and only merits two lines in the scohon on nean. While there is a pledge to improve facilities to achieve a woman's rignt to the programme does not incorporate the three-point plan proposed by the Labou Abortion Rights Campaign This would mean, for examthat the Labour Party pledged to decriminalise abortion. People humungrord in bas London would remain open to 14 year sentences just for performing abortions.
greatest problem, however is that of a strategy to win women's rights. The docu ment concludes:
an anti-abortion gynaecologist imposing his/her political views It is also unacceptable that parliament has HOL PUL this right. Sate, early abortions can ovailable on the HS through a become nationally change in legislation to make abortion legal at a woman's reIn 1975 the National Abor ton Campaign was set up to detend the right of women abortion on demand. In a coalition with the TUC the Labour Party and many other organisations, the NAC organised over public pressure which stopped three attempts further 1 TCHETIC 1967 As a union we have not discussed or voted on the issue abortion Although the POEU officially has no posidelegations TELE Labour Party have voted to de fend the 1967 Act and endors the position that a fundamenof women's rights over their own ferOur sponsored MPs positions on abortion reflect lack of discussion in the union.
The purpose of this article is to argue why the POEU should accept abortion as a legitimate subject for debate and why it Socialist Challenge ampaigr e 6 Abortion Act defending th rains of th or the role of the numerous in dustrial struggles of women fo equal pay in winning the Equa Pay Act.
Moreover women at factories such as Le Jeans. Koval Pride and Tamar Names defended women's job against the Tories and struck : real blow women': economic independence all right. But what we need firs Women is a Labour Party that fights fc women's rights by building WONCES movement suppostow will inth DUUUUE L WOENIEN clas women - and that will help pu Labour in office. Otherwise the I.P may not be in the position to give us a Minister for wome for a very long time.
should endorse the TUC's posi tion that women should legall be entitled To an aporon o the NHS.
Women's rights is a nev area for the union to deal with The influx of women into th engineering grades will natural ly promote these discussions it the whole membership.
Child bearing is obviousl an important and NECESSEN function in society, a functior exclusive to women, and ther is no reason why women should be penalised for it.
The fact the women can fal pregnant when they do not wisl to is not something they shouk be penalised for either The power to decide to cor tinue ECTITTE such pregnancy ought not to be held by the Church, State, a docto but by women Themselves. other arbitrary body ORGANISATIONS that 5U0DS nOre information Branches or individuals ma affiliating NAC/LARC trade union liaisor committee (NAC Nations An Roo London iT. 100127 (LARC) Labour Abortior Rights Campaign, PO Box 110 London SE21 BND 4 June 1982 page