23 JUNE 1967, Page 24

Abortion and the law.

Sir: I found Mr Goodhart's letter on abortion (9 June) so extraordinary that I had to read it twice to make sure I had not misunderstood it. He tells us that he finds the Abortion Bill objectionable because it will place responsibility for abortion upon the mother herself. This is wrong because the mother cannot know what her true wishes are. TAerefore, it appears, the choice must be removed m her (and her husband) and handed to some- one who understands better than the mother herself, what the mother's 'own true wishes may be— namely doctors who interview her briefly, and intuit what is good for her in the course of a short session. If by any chance they are mistaken, then it is, needless to say, the woman, not the doctors, who spends the rest of her life living with the doctor's mistake.

For blind, insensitive, male arrogance, Mr Good- hart takes some beating!

48 Greenvale Road, London SE9

I. S. Mason