"The law applied only to Great Britain, not to Northern Ireland, and it did not give women complete freedom to choose: two doctors were required to authorise the procedure. Speaking about that October night, Munday said: The act was a compromise. Only when women had the power to decide for themselves would our task be fully done. At 3am we were sitting on the terrace drinking champagne. And I remember saying that it's too soon to celebrate."
"Munday was a longstanding patron of Humanists UK, and humanism and justice-seeking underpinned her beliefs. To her critics she said: Abortion is not a negation of the maternal instinct. It's an extension of it, which comes into force when a woman knows she cannot cope with a child and give it the love and care that should be every human person's birthright."
Diane Munday led the long campaign that produced the Abortion Act 1967, which legalized abortion in Great Britain but excluded Northern Ireland and required approval by two doctors. She described the law as a compromise and insisted that full justice required women to have the power to decide for themselves. Munday framed abortion as an extension of maternal instinct when a woman cannot give a child the love and care it deserves. Born in London to Amelia and Phillip Schieferstein, she experienced anti-Semitic abuse, studied biochemistry while working at Barts hospital, married Derek Munday, had three sons, and served as a patron of Humanists UK. She died aged 94.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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