Tomoko Venure, The demand for 'a woman's right to choose' which the abortion movement has adopted, includes the demand that women should have complicated pregnancies and healthy babies.
eporting rising attendance, and deformity amongst new-born the increase.
blems is not due to natural causes but to changes in the environment in which we work and live ing the new risks to health and fertility which our unequal society has created.
Lead is poisonous to children. It causes hyper activity and even mental etardation.
Those who are most afoutwardly healthy mother. No one knows if she is aware of her surroundings or not.
the right to unBut today, infertility clinics are babies is on The growth in these types of pro LEONORA LLOYD has been examinfected live in inner cities in areas with high levels of traffic, because the most important source is petrol fumes. in 1956 in Minamata on the Japanese island of Kyushu, was attacked by mercury in the womb of her Poorer children, with streets most younger the children, the more secrets to ara effects its use paini children's furniture and toys has long been banned.
Now. after lots of has agreed to rodee the agreed to reduce lead content of he reduction will not hap pen until 1983 and anyway be too little The reluctance government due to pressure Trom the petrol eum industry and vehicle HITLUICES Workers using lead in industry Lead, and other heavy metals (manganese cadmium) reduced sex drive, lower Women.
fertility and genetic mutaHOTS Icading to malformed foetuses, spontancous abortions and still-births Workers can take leac home on their clothes anc DUCILE one Coolse have higher than aver in lead concentrations their blood.
Lower fertility can also disulphide which is Truna carbon in coke ovens in foundries and paint manufacture.
Everything that causes cancer in adults can affec the foetus The same pro cess that affects the adult cells will alter the composition of the foctal cell.
Whilst cancers
adults may not show up for twenty years, a change in just one cell, if it occurs at a crucial point in foetal development, can affect a complete organ or limb.
These known, but industry and the covernment are reluc tant to take the necessary action.
Every year some 300 to chemicals are brought into use The revolution in food processing and ans that children pregnant women are eating foods with emulsifiers, dyes and favouring whose long-term effects on humans are simply not known.
It takes 20 to 30 years for many cancers to develop. By the time they show up, it takes extensive detective work to trace their cause.
That's why some food dyes have been used for Latest issue November 1981, still get cancers from then in the years to come Pregnant women are still being prescribed drug whose long term effects are not known. New food HOOVES CaTe constantiy being introduced In most cases. these products are not neces sary. They result from the drive for profits.
Convenience foods are certainly convenient for the multi-nationals, but тапу arc of doubtful nutritional value Labelling with words like 'emulsifi er', permitted vative" ouring hiding high risk artificial col substances The recent history of medicine is littered examples of these additive: health and fertility Menstrual disorders, leading. difficulty conceiving. can be caused chemicals drug manufacture, chemiplastics and rubber factories and dry cleaning - for example benzene toluene, and zylene.
Chemicals carl casily cross the placenta, affecling foctus. These chemicals, called teratogens, may be present me tac mother's blood because of the type of work she does do the most damage in the first six to sight weeks usually before the woman is sure Allowing pregnant women to switch to less dangerous work is therefore good enough The workplace wher teratogen are must be made safe for al workers.
chemicals Sante can show in the mother's milk dry cleaning solvents breathed in by her can cause liver disease in her baby.
The foetus can be affected because of genetic factors Yet there are less than 30 centres in Britain potential parents can go for the counselling which is necessary for people with a family history of certain genetic disorders Some of these orders are sex-linked, such as muscular dystrophy or haemophilia. Tests during he sex of the foetus an regnanc determine HOUT OT olfered necessary Other tests are available, and more are being researched here and in the States. But in some area: Tony Cliff's movement:
and Cheques to:
are tainable, because the consultants are not prepared to offer abortions!
The situation is bad ene Third World, bu in the Third disastrous.
Drug dumping takes place on a huge scale, as drugs found unfit for us to use are reicasco un arca with less stringent laws. Contraceptives found to be dangerous are forced on underdeveloped coun tries as a condition of food aid When the Dalkon Shield (a type of IUD) was banned in America, it was dumped Paraguay Isract, , India and 39 othe countries. It was not only INSATE even causing deaths — it was not par ticularly effective as a con traceptive!
Tetracycline, an antibiotic, is contra-indicated pregnant women and children, bur is released in many parts of the poor wond wou any warn ings.
American companies who made a dangerous design of baby dummies continue to supply them to other countries after their USE was banned in the States Not only baby milk products are promoted in dangerous WEVE Advertising products like Coca Cola gives the impression that these are good foods Tainer TART being positively damaging to their health.
Cigarette smoking is also heavily promoted, warning: mandatory any restrictions on nicotine content.
Insecticides banned in the West are still manufac tured here and exported to the Third World For example, a pesticide known as DBCP •EDE States 1977, is still being exported for use in banana prana causes cancer and sterility humans Ironically, most of the bananas are imported into the US Industry and our environment can be dge is The knowledge there but it is not very proItable to put it into use.
Until industry is run i the interesis or all. th health of workers - now and in the future - will always be secondary to the great god of profit.
MITTERRAND'S STRINGST JACQUES KERGOAT Citt& Zetkin, Valerie Coulta The Police, Tony Buryar Socialist Challenge 29 October 1981 Page 13
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