12 OCTOBER 1962, Page 9

Thalidomide When I wrote my paragraph on thalidomide babies I

realised that it might arouse controversy. It did, and, just for the sake of the record, I should like to say (1) that I am not an adept of any theory of eugenics, and (2) that I am well aware of the arguments against legalising abor- tion. What I was endeavouring to do was to make the point that a situation where a mother knows that she will very probably produce a deformed child and has to live with that know- ledge through a period of several months is one that places an intolerable strain upon her, and that such a situation is also something quite new, which, fortunately, has only occurred, so far as 1 know, in this particular set of circum- stances. This being so, I find talk of racial purity and so forth beside the point.