Woman M.P. fighting Abortion Bill

MRS. JILL KNIGHT was the only woman Mem ber of Parliament to speak against the Abortion Bill at the second reading. "When I left the chamber," she says, "I was booed by a crowd that bad gathered. It was a rather traumatic experience for a new Member." The demonstrators were, of course, organised by the Abortion Law Reform Association.
Mrs. Knight, the vivacious Conservative Member for Edgbaston, Birmingham, is on the Committee considering the new Bill. "The trouble is," she points out, "the constitution of the Committee reflects the big majority vote on the second reading of the Bill.
"It does not reflect the change in opinion that has occurred in the country. On the Committee we can do nothing. Our chance is when the Bill comes up in the House again. Then the shift in opinion will be reflected."
Mrs. Knight is not a Catholic : "I have to keep reminding people of that" She lives in her constituency with her family. "We are always having family concerts," she says. With her husband she sings Irish songs: "We're a poor man's Nina and Frederik."
She is opposed to the Abortion Bill "because it just legalises abortion on demand. I believe one must live one's life in a responsible way and bear the responsibility for one's actions. If people are encouraged to believe they can live as loosely as they like there will be a slackening of moral fibres as a whole. The foetus is a human being. There are laws to stop us doing this kind of thing to animals."
And what will happen if the Bill goes through, Mrs. Knight asks, and answers herself: "Abortion will be used instead of contraception as a means of preventing birth."
Mrs. Knight says that "the more you learn about abortion, the more you oppose it. If you give it scant thought you come to one conclusion. Give it deeper thought and you come to a completely different conclusion."