Abortion on Request

Hawaii this week becomes the first state in the Union to legalize abortion on request, leaving the decision about the operation to the woman herself and her physician. The legislature completed passage of the bill last week and sent it to Governor John A. Burns. A Roman Catholic, Burns said he would not sign it but neither would he veto it. Unsigned, it becomes law in ten days.

The Hawaiian law is essentially what many physicians have been urging--so far, unsuccessfully--in several mainland states. It includes only minimal restrictions: the operation must involve a fetus that cannot live outside the womb (usually meaning less than 20 weeks of gestation); it must be performed by a licensed physician or surgeon (M.D. or doctor of osteopathy), and in a Government-licensed hospital. By comparison, the "liberalized" abortion laws passed by ten states, led by Colorado in 1967, require that each abortion must be approved by two or more disinterested physicians. All specify some medical need, such as the mother's physical or mental health, or a likelihood that the baby will be defective. Britain is somewhat more lenient than these states, but still stipulates pre-operation approval by more than one doctor. The District of Columbia is now in a legal limbo, since Federal Judge Gerhard A. Gesell declared the restrictive District code unconstitutional because it was too vague. Gesell's ruling is subject to reversal on appeal. Meanwhile, abortion is available in the District, but many residents complain that it is difficult to obtain.

Like every other jurisdiction that has liberalized its abortion law, Hawaii was fearful of becoming an "abortion capital." So the legislators wrote in a 90-day residency requirement. Some concede that this may be unconstitutional, but they worded it so that the rest of the statute is unassailable. Hawaii thus becomes the first major jurisdiction in the Western world in which abortion is treated as an exclusively medical matter. Any woman over 20 can have one for the asking if she can find a doctor willing to perform it.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.