TRURO – Positive alternatives to abortion should be actively promoted by the Board of Colchester Hospital, said Ed Newell, chairman of the Colchester Right to Life Association. Abortions at the hospital totaled:
140 in 1978
125 in 1979
119 in 1980
87 in 1981
100 in 1982
92 in 1983
71 in 1984
Mr. Newell said “abortions to save the life of the mother are a medical rarity” and voiced his group’s opposition to abortion on moral, medical and social grounds.
In the Association’s annual presentation to the hospital on March 28, 1985, Mr. Newell pointed out that Colchester hospital performed the second highest number of abortions in the province, after Victoria general Hospital in Halifax. The use of “health” reasons should be questioned, he said. There should be a new “open-minded” policy about this issue. Adoption rather than abortion should be promoted. The hospital should establish a pastoral care department. It should also consider placing “a guardian and spokesman for the child threatened with abortion” on the committee.
AH
