Sir: Mrs J. S. Mason (Letters, 23 June) patently wants
abortion at the mother's demand and recog- nises that the proposed Bill will, in effect. achieve this result. Her honesty is refreshing after the tactical manoeuvring of some of her fellers sup- porters. However, she has not answered Dr Goodhart's point that the physiological and psy- chological changes of pregnancy may interfere with the soundness of the mother's decision. This suggestion is not 'male arrogance' but a reasonable inference from the facts. A study, quoted by Virginia Wimperis (The Unmarried Mother and her Child. page 106), shows that where 63 per cent of the sample reported feelings of revulsion towards the child in the first half of pregnancy, this pro- portion drops to 19 per cent in the second half and to 10 per cent after the birth. Whether abor- tion can ever be justified or not, it is surely a sufficiently serious action not to depend on feelings that may well prove to be temporary and are largely initiated by hormonal changes.
Quentin de la Bedoyere 3 Durrington Park Road, Wimbledon, London SW20
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