17 APRIL 1971, Page 29

Politics of abortion

Sir: Mr Goodhart is right in his review of 'Abortion Law Re- formed' by Simms and Hindell (10 April). Truly, if you can convince 'a few hundred mrs' and demon- strate that public opinion is behind you, you can pass almost any law. This procedure, which Mr Good- hart finds so distasteful and dis- turbing, is called 'democracy' and is responsible for such liberties as we possess.