MATERNAL MORTALITY AND A REMEDY
[To the Editor of TIIE SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—The undeniable connexions between unskilled abortions, septic conditions and the maternal death and damage rates. have been mentioned in Parliament by Colonel Sir Arnold Wilson and Captain Elliston last March, and by Mrs. Tate and Lady Astor on. July 17th. Unfortunately, the two latter con- fined themselves to demanding better contraception and de- nounced illegal abortion ; Sir Arnold Wilson showed a far wider vision and sympathy.
Soviet Russia's successful example in this matter is already well known. Most people are less well acquainted with the' recent reforms in Section 25 of the Penal Code of the Republic of Latvia. Paragraph 440, as amended, legalizes the termina- tion of pregnancies by properly qualified surgeons, within the first three months, in cases where the child is likely to inherit' gross physical or mental defect, where the conception is due to certain grave crimes, and/or where the nurture and rearing of the child would endanger the livelihood of the woman' herself or of her other children. Moreover, it is recognized'
that a surgeon may lawfully terminate a pregnancy if he believes the woman's life and health are endangered thereby. Public opinion among our .kinsfolk . and neighbours. in • Denmark has been deeply moved by a recent cause celebre, in which Dr. Leunbach of Copenhagen (their leading champion of modernist sexual ethics in this as in other, matters) was triumphantly acquitted of a charge under Paragraph 242 of the Danish Code, which forbids termination of pregnancy, even on therapeutic grounds. Leunbach helped poor women, gratis: In the face of the accumulation of testimony in all lands, how long are we to retain tlie barbarity of the Statute of
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