&0OK REVIEWS THINGS new.

^ Ann Biezanek. (Peter Smith Ltd., 1964, 7s. 6d.)

* w for the rich.

Af^Ce ^en^ins- (Riband Books, 1964, 7s. 6d.) 0?

ter war, the greatest and most pressing problem of our time is that of the control Population. The recent appearance of two books concerned with this subject has

8^n drawn attention to the whole question. ~ne of the main sources of opposition to contraception has come from the Roman

feel Church, but there is now a growing body of opinion within the church which ls that their views on this subject should be substantially modified. The most dramatic

^^ple of an individual opposing the Catholic church on its policy is that of Dr. c Biezanek, the Catholic doctor and mother of seven children who has become the

Catholic doctor in the world to run a family planning clinic. Her book, All Things tells the story of her struggle to remain faithful to the teachings of her church

be ei? both her physical and mental health were failing owing to too-frequent child- . ^ng. it also sets out her views on the place of sexual intercourse in the life of

rried women and, in the last section, puts the official Catholic view on the subject contraception and her own objections to it.

l is very difficult indeed for the religious struggles of Dr. Biezanek to be understood

t|]a.an agnostic like myself. To me, it seems incredible that her priest should tell her

h k 6 must keeP her J0*5 *n order to feed her ever-growing family (her husband was

CQa?le to find work suited to his qualifications), and then forbid her either to use

the ePti?n or to deny her husband marital rights. When she asked him: "What, ^

n' am I to do?" he answered: "I do not know." Eventually the strain proved too

(je and she suffered a mental and physical breakdown. When, following this, she

buf1^ ^at s^e must follow her individual conscience and not only took "the pill" L ?Pened a clinic for Catholic women, this provoked trouble with her Catholic

4|| "and, resulted in nation-wide publicity and, eventually, the refusal of her priest to her to take communion.

ill i! 'S obvious from the published letters from Catholic women that she is not alone tj.

er struggle. For many the "safe period" has not proved safe, and for others the

Uj ? ?f continence which this imposes is not tolerated by their husbands, and Dr.

i 2anek describes the women who come to her clinic and show her "the bruises they e received from their husbands' fists as a result of trying to put into practice the

^rch's teaching on sexual abstinence". 4|r

r- Biezanek puts forward the view, revolutionary within her own Church but ?ady propounded by other writers, such as Simone de Beauvoir, that the main place

, 'ntercourse in marriage is to provide sexual fulfilment?the procreation of children Cq

n? a secondary issue and one which is rarely considered at the time. She is in fact

d ,rageously asking for the sexual emancipation of Catholic women today, and in

of so has brought upon herself powerful opposition from her Church. In the section

$he ? ^??'c where she deals with the official Catholic teaching and her objections to it, j\ is on stronger ground when arguing on the moral issue than when she refers to

orical sources, as the books to which she refers, written as they were over sixty years

tyr?> give, I feel, a more romantic picture of mediaeval life and thought than do those more recently. This is, however, a most moving and impressive book.

? a large number of women, the problems of their Catholic sisters appear remote, ^ heY have already accepted contraception as sensible and right, but what happens [r en >t fails? No method is 100% safe, and there are also pregnancies which result

fUb* assault and those in which the mother comes into contact with illnesses, such as thee^a in early pregnancy, which can result in defective babies. What is the answer 0r

11 ?r for the woman who has already had several children and for whom the medical

Psychological indications are against a further pregnancy? In these cases the

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termination of pregnancy would appear to be the lesser of two evils, and there is gf0 ing public feeling that the law on this question needs to be reformed. It is still on the 1861 Criminal Law Consolidation Act which declares termination by any0 including the mother, to be an offence, whilst the legal position still rests on the Re>f Bourne case of 1938. Because of this, many doctors feel themselves unable to mend termination, for fear of prosecution. The history of the attempts made to ref?r the law governing abortion and the founding of the Abortion Law Reform Associa'J is given in Alice Jenkins' book, Law for the Rich. She uses this title because it

become just that?rich people can buy safe abortions, poor ones have to rely on e'

being lucky enough to have a doctor who feels himself justified in recommit

termination or visiting a backstreet abortionist or attempting to terminate it thems^' Alice Jenkins gives details of the two attempts to pass a Bill clarifying the law thro": Parliament and the resultant failure when the Bills were "talked out" by Cath? Members of Parliament. No sensible person is going to advocate abortion as a i"1

of family planning, but it seems right in this day and age that when it does bec^ necessary it should be obtainable safely and without trouble. One reason given opponents of this reform is that the woman herself will suffer from guilt and depri sion, but it is interesting to note that Dr. R. F. Tredgold, writing in The Lat'C& 12th December, says that this is "exceedingly rare". These are both questions of fundamental importance to be considered by us

Dr. Biezanek likens the choice in her case to that of those Germans who either den1'

responsibility for the evil they saw about them or made a stand, saying: "These th'^ are wrong." Judith Judith C?c