agrees that the possession of reliable contraceptive
knowledge by the married women of New Zealand would tend to augment
rather than to diminish further the natural rate of increase of our
population, for an additional factor to those given above lies in the
large amount of sterility which follows induced abortion, that most
unsatisfactory of all forms of birth-control.

The evidence laid before the Committee shows that in New Zealand every
year thousands of women imperil, and indeed negate, their future
prospects of motherhood by submitting to the induction of abortion.

It has been shown that abortion is a delayed, dangerous, and
unsatisfactory form of birth-control, and it can quite logically be
argued that if a reliable and simple method of contraception was known
to all married people the abortion problem would assume very small
proportions.

This is, to a large extent, true, but it must not be forgotten that
both abortion and contraception have various aspects, and that apart
from other objections there are practical difficulties which are not
easily surmounted. There is no known contraceptive which is simple,
inexpensive, and 100 per cent. reliable for the thoughtless, the
careless, and the stupid.

Contraception may be considered under three headings:--

(1) The practice of contraception extramaritially, which only needs
to be mentioned to be deprecated.

(2) The practice of contraception by married people irrespective of
their circumstances.

Evidence was given by responsible and representative women in support
of a mother's right to say when she will bear her children, and
although we agree that this privilege might well be conceded her, we
are of the opinion that it is not the function of the State to
undertake the dissemination of the knowledge and give the practical
instruction necessary to enable the general adoption of this principle.

This general instruction can well be left to the medical profession,
who should also undertake the responsibility of impressing the
privileges of motherhood upon young women seeking such advice.

In recommending that such general instruction should be left to the
medical practitioners, we are cognizant of the fact that many members
of that profession are at a loss to know what methods of contraception
can be reliably recommended to lay persons.

A sub-committee of the Obstetrical Society, consisting of members who
have made a special study of thi