James White, Labour MP for Glasgow Pollok, has presented to parliament a Private Member's Bill to restrict even further the grossly inadequate provisions of the Abortion Act of 1967.
While ignores the recommendatJons of the Lane Committee which studied the Act for three years, and wants to restriet the social grounds which allow women to have an abortion, White has put a clause in the Bill to han the experiments on live foetuses. This is done with the alm of getting religious support for his White's Bill Is being put forward at a time when an increasing number of anti-abortion groups - SPUC, LIFE and the newly formed WOM EN FOR LIFE - are banging the drums against abortion. MP's have been deluged with the crudest propaganda from anti-abortionists, who ure putting enoreous pressure on Them to vote for a restrictive Bill.
These reactionary farces make pious noises about the rights of the her own body. The right to abortson is a pre-condition for women to organise politically and socially against their exploitation, Most of the reactionaries who shout the loudest for 'the protection of life are completely silent when it comes to protecting the rights of unwanted children. Nor do they show much interest in protecting the lives of women who die from the back-street abortions which are bound to increase if the Abortion Act a tightened or repealed.
The While Bill coses al a time when the welfare tacilities, such as nurseries and child-day care, which give women some sort of choice when it comes to abortion, are being savagely cut back by the government's cuts in social expenditure. A feature of these cuts is the closing down of women's hospitais and clinics. Sections of the Royal Free Hospital in London which deal with many abortion cases are being closed, Hospital consultants as part of their work to ric groups have been able ta mobilise thousands of working class people makes it even more important for the trade union and lahour movement to take up the fight for free aband an end to all restrictive legislatJon.
example in this respect, in response to an appeai by the local Working Womens Charter Campaign. The Labuur MP's in Brent urging them-to vote against White's Bill when it comes up for ils second reading on culate petitions against the Bill, and to support the demonstration to he held on ? February which the Londen Charter Organising Committee have called, 12.30pm, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS and March to Westminster.
DEMONSTRATE AGAINST WHITE'S DEMONSTRATE FOR FREE ABORTION ON DEMAND!
been torn to shreds.
west midlands. WRP members have left in London and Yorkshire.
The internal dispute in the WRP has spawned the Workers Socialist League and at least 200 members have cither been expelled from or left the WRPmost of them joining the WSL.
ABSTENTIONISM Inevitably as with all disputes mide the WRP - accusations of bureaucracy and undemocratic praatices have been rife. The leadership of the WRP have been accused of being "sectarian" and putting forward OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS THE WORKERS REVOLUTION. ary Party has gone through a series of expulsions and defections.
The much vaunted industrial base at British Leyland in Cowley has Branches in Reading, Swindon and Oxford have almost disappeared. Nor are these defections restricted simply to the south- often leaders in their local branches Foot and Bevan for people breaking thom teformism and moving in the direction of revolutionary politics they wrongly chasacterised the Tribune movement as centrist CONFERENCE the strupule and reduced to championing the MNA openly supported De Gaulle Its support for this discredited pro-imperialist outfit ctical" contortions where it it forced to argue the bizarre position that the Cuban expected to recruit forces from the MNA 'S French grouping The WRP was Torood to dony the reality that the FLY was leading these new forces the cause of the Messali Hadi rump- When against the LN, the WRP quictly buried Is attitude to the Cuban resolution has forced it into the most remarkable theois to ro group these forces. The task however is to win the new vanguard which will aften nean replacing the old leadors with Even thouph the WRP is nutside the Labour Party it still directs its demands to the Labour Party. This leads it to put larward slogwas around governmens which are apenly reformist. Their demands in iate 1973 against the Tory Government wore for a General Strike to force a General Election. In 1974 during the upsurgo around the sublic sector wage claims the pratice".
Movements like the Women's Liberation, anti-imperialism, Shrewsbury, the anti racist struggles of black workers - offer in conelict with groups of traditional trade union multants - also become a divers ion in the eyes of the WRI. They disturb its schemia. They are neither tarcel to wards social democracy nor are they diseedy accruiLabie so the party"
The W'RP has two simplistic positien Its catastrophism early in 1974 it was Forecasting millions of unemplayed within wecks - drives it into the position chat workers dominated by the ideas of social democracy will simply pack thai bags and join the WRP. When this Tails to take Place it saugeles back towands the Labour Party and relies on exposing the Labour This facs expression in the demand Lacour to Power on a Socialist Pro ne ame Jal petween the crowthio mass revolutionary organisations and the disintegration of capitalism mears that a
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Tory-Liber ol "national un