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The first members of the Abortion Supervisory Committee were (from left) Dr Bruce Grieve, Augusta Wallace and Dr Heather Thomson. They appointed the certifying consultants to whom women wanting an abortion went for approval. Women also needed to find a surgeon willing to perform the operation. The system did not work well, and hundreds, possibly thousands, of women travelled to Australia for abortions as a result. In 1978 Parliament amended the legislation.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PA-Group-00685)
Reference: EP/15/78
by Ross Giblin
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.