A protest march in mid 1974 against Dr Gerald Wall’s Hospitals Amendment Bill

This was a night time demonstration in Wellington in mid 1974 against a Bill introduced to Parliament by Gerald Wall, MP for Porirua, to restrict abortions to public hospitals. The Bill was in response to a private clinc being opened in Auckland that performed abortions.

Protest Photos from the 1970s.

The above photographs are from a march in Wellington in mid 1974. In May 1974 a private abortion clinic opened in Auckland. Gerald Wall’s Hospital Amendment Bill was an attempt to restrict abortions to public hospitals and thus outlaw private clinics. Though Parliament passed the bill it was never enacted due to an error in it’s drafting.

Photographer: Keith Stewart