The Government favours the reestablishment of the Select Committee - the parlamentary body responsible for drawing up the present restrictions on women's right to abortion. That's official according to the Catholic paper Universe, which quotes Labour Chief Whip Bob Mellish to this effect.
The newspaper also reports that Melisn nas given assurances unat ir tne Select committee is not re-estabasned the Government is willing to give time to any other Private Member's Bill seeking similar reforms. The Chief Whip's Office has once again maintained the position that any vote on this issue will be a 'free vote' - contnuing to pose this issue as one above party and class.
At the planning meeting of the National Abortion Campaign held in Lonthese attacks on abortion by beginning now to build for a mass demonstration on 3 April. The call for a mobilising committee has gone out, and this will be meerme in January to discuss now te oula a demonsuanon simmar to une one altracting 20,000 last sune New date The demostration will bring together all those who agree with the demands for 'Free Abortion on Demand - A Woman's Right to Choose', 'No Return to Backstreet Abortions', and who oppose any attacks from the Labour Government on women's right to aborBOn.
The new date for the demonstration - DreVIOUSY NAL was CommiLICO Le building the International Women's Day demonstration in March as a major national focus - followed several hours of debate. Linda Smith of the IMG argued that it was fitting tor NAC to build the largest possible demonstration on this dav because it would allow all against women s oppression to come together politically. This would demonstrate the real steps that have been taken in the labour movement and in the community in the fight for women's Gwyn Vorhaus, also of the IMG, explanea that internanonal women s Day had been called by the Second International following a textile workers' strike in America to mark the actual struggle launched by women. She argued that all campaigns should be represented on the march and there should be no restrictions. Six demands But most of the NAC groups repres ented at the meeting rejected this view. Other speakers argued that the International Women's Day march would be called on the basis of the six demands of the women's liberation movement, and because NAC was fighting for only one of the demands demand - many of the people mobilised by NAC would not understand or even agree with the other demands. It was argued that this would cause great triction with people who supported NAC but who did not consider themselves part of the women's liberation moveIn light of the differences within that without the backing of the entire campaign any national mobilisation would be unsuccesstul. It was thus unanimously agreed to call tor a demonstration on 3 April.
Ine tasks are now set for the coming months. verv students union. trade union, women's group, tenants association and Labour Party must now be approached to affiliate to NAC, to sponpontanon and pubucity, and to begin to discuss how they can implement the decisions of the workers' movement taken at the TUC and. Labour Party conterences to nunctor aoorton on request. The plans for regional co-ordination discussed at the national planning meeting can only help to take the campaign into the heart of the workers' HOYCHICHE. ing standards will be a united one -with women at its forefront.