§ Dr. Oonagh McDonald (Thurrock)With your permission, Mr. Speaker, and that of the House, I beg leave to present a petition supported by over 200,000 people who wish to make their opposition to the Abortion (Amendment) Bill known to this House.
The petition reads:
To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.The humble Petition of the citizens of the United Kingdom,SHEWETHThat the present measure before Parliament to restrict the availability of abortion would be detrimental to a great number of 928 women, taking away a woman's essential right to avoid an accidental and unwanted pregnancy and thereby enforcing motherhood and particularly penalising women on low incomes who are unable to afford a private abortion.Wherefore your Petitioners pray that no legislation be passed which would restrict the circumstances in which women can have legal abortions, believing that women should have the right to free National Health Service abortions and that restrictions will lead to enforced pregnancies and motherhood, unwanted children or dangerous back-street abortions.And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.I cannot follow the remorseless ambivalence of the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Mr. Hamilton) in regard to this petition. Far from it being more comfortable to sit on the fence, in this case it is certainly much more comfortable to come off the fence and firmly to support what this petition represents, namely, the views of the vast majority of women in this House and in the country, and many men as well.
§ To lie upon the Table.
§ Mr. Tony Marlow (Northampton, North)With your permission, Mr. Speaker, and that of the House, I beg leave to present a petition supported by 2.500 of my constituents concerning today's business.
I shall be very brief, because I know that there is no one in the Chamber today who wishes to waste any time whatever. The petition reads:
The Humble Petition of we the undersigned prays that Parliament do not allow the original terms of the Abortion (Amendment) Bill to be weakened either by raising the time limit for abortion beyond the proposed 20 weeks or by altering those clauses which require that 'grave risk to life' and 'substantial risk of serious injury' should be the criteria for abortion, since these clauses will reduce the amount of killing of unborn children.And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, etc.
§ To lie upon the Table.