To many New Zealanders, the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act is almost ancient history now. While most people believe it to be an unjust and ill-thought out piece of legislation, there is also a growing feeling of "We just don't want to hear about it anymore. . . it's dragged on for so long. . . we've heard it all before." That's true — we've heard it all before, and nothing has changed.

Despite mounting evidence of the unworkability of the system (recently capped by the resignation of the Chairperson of the Abortion Supervisory Committee), the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act is still in effect and is as bad as ever. Women are still being denied their democratic right to have abortions and as long as women continue to suffer, the abortion controversy will continue to rage.

Last year, over 6,000 women flew to Australia seeking abortions. There are many other women, however, who are unable to do so. Their alternatives are the humiliation and uncertainty of seeking an abortion under the Act, bearing an unwanted child, or having an illegal abortion at the risk of their life.

The number of back street abortionists is growing and this is particularly alarming. The methods used are often highly dangerous. One woman who was recently arrested used a method in which she put the patient into a very hot bath which had dettol and lots of sunlight soap frothed up in it. She then used an enema of the bath water to cause a miscarriage. If the liquid is forced into the uterus under pressure the placenta be dislodged from the wall of the uterus and the liquid, when mixed with air and absorbed into the blood stream, will cause instant death. The method also involved a very high risk of infection.

Women should not have to take such risks in order to control their own fertility. The right to abortion is a basic requirement in the fight for equality and for women to take their place in the world. Its denial is one more manifestation of the reactionary government policy of a woman's place being in the home. This policy is also manifested in the attacks on the Domestic Purposes Benefit, designed to drive women back into the shelter of marriage, however unsatisfactory. In the home, women provide a cheap and convenient reserve labour force that can be used as scapegoats in times of economic hardship. Witness the increasing calls for married women to give up their jobs to men.

Students are affected just as harshly by the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act as the rest of the population and often more because of their generally lower incomes. Following we have the case studies of Tour women students who found that they were pregnant and how they coped with this: