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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol 36 No. 5. 29 March 1973

Fear and Ignorance

Fear and Ignorance

Photo of a woman lying on an operating table

Abortion is not the only means of birth control women have difficulty in obtaining. The safest contraceptives e.g. the pill, are too costly for many. Women who need contraceptives are often too scared to approach a doctor and there are page 5 always doctors who moralise or even refuse. All contraceptives should be made easily available to anyone wanting them. Sex education should begin at an early age since many unwanted pregnancies occur through ignorance of how to prevent conception.

Abortion cannot be isolated from other birth control measures. In October 1972 the British Government was forced to consider providing free contraceptives to everyone in the country to overcome the sharp increases of pregnancies in young women. This was after British abortion laws had been liberalised. If unwanted pregnancies are to decrease no method of birth control should be denied. Much misery would be eliminated with women having free access to abortion or contraception as they chose. The importance of freely available abortions can not be stressed enough. Contraception is not an answer to a woman who is already pregnant. Her only alternative is compulsory pregnancy and childbirth. Why should women be punished for accidental conception!