Birth and breeding : the politics of reproduction in modern Britain an exhibition at the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, October 1993 / Ken Arnold, Lesley Hall, Julia Sheppard.

  • Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine.
Date:
1993
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: Birth and breeding : the politics of reproduction in modern Britain an exhibition at the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, October 1993 / Ken Arnold, Lesley Hall, Julia Sheppard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    VI. 14 Selection of material against reform of abortion law: letter, poem, drawing, petition and leaflets This selection of material against abortion law reform gathered by the Association includes an angry letter to David Steel, a poem 'Abortion' that begins Hello, dear God, I'm back again, a petition sent to Members of Parliament and two leaflets. These last two are examples of the considerable use made of images of unborn babies, which have proved a very powerful tool in the anti-abortion lobby's argument. SA/ALR A10/1, A10/24, A10/43, A15/2/1 VI. 15 Selection of material for reform of abortion law: petition, Tories' leaflet and congratulatory cards The supportive petition was sent to David Steel by a Mrs Frosch in November 1966. The leaflet produced by 'Tories for free choice' indicates how the issue cut across party-political boundaries. The cards and telegram are examples of the numerous messages of congratulation sent to David Steel on the successful passage of his bill. SA/ALR A15/1/2, A15/4, G29 VI. 16 Letter from David Steel to Vera Houghton [ALRA Chair] (25 July 1966) At the time of writing, David Steel's private member's bill was about to enter its committee stage. SA/ALR/A.5/1/6 VI. 17 Selection of letters from MPs in favour of abortion law reform This selection of letters written to the Association is from Anthony Wedgewood Benn, Michael Foot, Denis Healey, Michael Heseltine, David Owen, Margaret Thatcher, Jeremy Thorpe, and Edward Heath's private secretary, Antony Fletcher. All are supportive, except the last, which indicates no commitment either way. The fact that they include members of Conservative, Labour and Liberal parties indicates the cross-party support given to the bill. SA/ALR/A.5/1 VI. 18 National Abortion Campaign badges (1970-81) These badges are examples of material produced during campaigns against the various Parliamentary bills that were aimed at reducing the scope of the 1967 abortion bill. Kindly loaned by the Science Museum VI. 19 Disposable Karman vacuum aspirator apparatus (1981) This apparatus was produced by Rocket of London for use in abortion operations conducted during the first seven weeks of pregnancy. Kindly loaned by the Science Museum