Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Various Aspects of the Problem of Abortion in NewZealand Part 1

Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Various Aspects of the Problem of Abortion in New Zealand.

by David G. McMillan and Janet Fraser and Sylvia G. Chapman and Thomas F. Corkhill and Tom L. Paget.

REPORT.

The Hon. the Minister of Health, Wellington.

SIR,--

The Committee set up by Cabinet to inquire into the various aspects of the Problem of Abortion in New Zealand has the honour to submit herewith its report.

HISTORICAL AND INTRODUCTION.

Since the rise in the death-rate from septic abortion in 1930, the Department of Health, the medical profession, and women's organizations and societies have shown great concern regarding the problem. The Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of the New Zealand Branch of the British Medical a.s.sociation conveyed to the Prime Minister a resolution pa.s.sed at the meeting of its executive held in Wellington on 12th March, 1936, wherein it begged the Prime Ministry to consider the advisability of setting up a Committee of inquiry to investigate this matter.

This recommendation having been favourably considered, the following Committee was appointed:--

Dr. D. G. McMillan, M.B., Ch.B. (N.Z.), M.P., Chairman.

Mrs. Janet Fraser.

Dr. Sylvia G. Chapman, M.D. (N.Z.), M.B., Ch.B. (N.Z.).

Dr. T. F. Corkill, M.D. (Edin.), M.R.C.P. (Edin.).

Dr. T. L. Paget, M.R.C.S. (Edin.), L.R.C.P. (Lond.).

Although the immediate purpose of this inquiry was to investigate the problem of septic abortion, it at once became apparent that this matter was so inextricably bound up with the subject of abortion in general that all aspects would require consideration.

The Committee has therefore attempted to make this wider survey and to bring before you as complete a picture as possible.

The Committee has been guided by the Order of Reference, which was as follows:--

I. To inquire into and report upon the incidence of abortion in New Zealand, including--

(_a_) The incidence among married and single women;

(_b_) Whether the rate of incidence has increased during recent years;

(_c_) How New Zealand compares with other countries in this respect.

II. To inquire into and report upon the underlying causes for the occurrence of abortion in New Zealand, including medical, economic, social, and any other factors.

III. To advise as to the best means of combating and preventing the occurrence of abortion in New Zealand.

IV. Generally to make any other observations or recommendations that appear appropriate to the Committee on the subject.

The preliminary meeting of the Committee was held on the 18th August, and in all sixteen meetings have been held, of which thirteen meetings were held in Wellington, one in Dunedin, one in Auckland, and one in Christchurch.

Evidence was heard from--

British Medical a.s.sociation.

Church of England.

Crown Solicitor.

Dominion Federation of Women's Inst.i.tutes.

Dominion Federation of Women's Inst.i.tutes (Auckland Branch).

Government Statistician.

Lecturer in Medical Jurisprudence, Otago Medical School.

Maternity Protection Society.

Mothers Union.

National Council of Women.

National Council of Women (Canterbury Branch).

New Zealand Labour Party (Auckland Women's Branch).

New Zealand Registered Nurses a.s.sociation.

New Zealand Registered Nurses a.s.sociation (Auckland Branch).

New Zealand Registered Nurses a.s.sociation (Christchurch Branch).

Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society.

Obstetricians and Gynaecologists attached to the Public Hospitals in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin.

Pharmaceutical Society.

Police Department.

Presbyterian Church of New Zealand.

Roman Catholic Church.

Royal Society for the Health of Women and Children.

St. John Ambulance a.s.sociation Nursing Guild.

Women's Division of the Farmers Union.

Women's Division of the Farmers Union (Otago Branch).

Women's Division of the Farmers Union (South Auckland Branch).

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

Women's Service Guild.

Working Women's Movement (Auckland Branch).

In addition to these, evidence was heard from twelve other persons.

The Committee would like to express its thanks to the witnesses, many of whom have gone to considerable trouble to collect information and prepare their evidence.

PART I.--INCIDENCE OF ABORTION IN NEW ZEALAND.

All the evidence brought before the Committee indicates that abortion is exceedingly frequent in New Zealand.

It is quite impossible to a.s.sess the incidence with complete accuracy, for the reason that a very considerable number of these cases do not come under medical or hospital observation, but some definite indication of the frequency is given by the statistics obtained from various hospitals and practices.

In one urban district, for instance, in which the total live births for a two-year period were 4,000, the number of cases of abortion treated in the public hospital alone was 400.

When to this number were added the cases treated in the various private hospitals, those attended by doctors in the patients' homes, and those not medically attended at all, it was computed that a total of 1,000 abortions was a conservative figure. In other words, roughly twenty pregnancies in every 100 terminated in abortion.

Looked at from a somewhat different angle, figures were presented from one hospital showing that in a group of 568 unselected women of child-bearing age, there were 549 abortions in 2,301 pregnancies, or 23 per hundred.