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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol. 38, No. 18. July 23rd 1975

Justifying the Closure of the Remuera Clinic

Justifying the Closure of the Remuera Clinic

Dear Salient,

Anthony Ward, in criticising my letter of June 20th, raised two points. Firstly, he claimed that one major presumption of my letter was that the Remuera Clinic has broken and is continuing to break the law. However, my argument, very broadly speaking, was that the existing law on abortion was justified, that public and approved private hospitals a one could easily cope with legal abortions and perform them cheaply, and that Dr. Wall's Bill was therefore justified in restricting the performance of legal abortions to such hospitals so as to make it more difficult to break the existing law. In order, therefore, to make illegal abortions more difficult, the Bill is Right in closing the Remuera Clinic whether it has broken, or is breaking the present law or not.

Secondly, he quoted my statement, 'If the purpose of society is to provide support to and acceptance of each of its members....' and then said that Society at the moment does not have this as its highest goal, but the making of profits for a small and increasingly foreign elite.' Assuming that this is true, it still has nothing to do with what the purpose of society is, but may simply mean that it is not fulfilling its purpose.

He then went on to imply that a just and humane society is a socialist society. I would think that the reason why he says this is because he believes that this is the one in which everyone is accepted and supported by the community, and no-one is therefore treated unjustly by having his worth and dignity as a human being denied him. It was my argument in my previous letter that since this is what a just and humane society demands, then, whether it is socialist or otherwise, the right to be born and accepted should not be denied, except to preserve the mother's life.

Yours sincerely,

Gordon S. little

graphic with the word bang!