Administrative/biographical history

From 1979 to 1984 Gill Kent was deeply involved in the British women's movement, particularly the women's health movement, and played a pivotal role in the defeat of John Corrie's anti-abortion bill of 1979-1980.

Kent was a member of the National Abortion Campaign (NAC) National Steering Committee and a founding member of the Campaign Against the Corrie Bill (CAC). At the same time, she worked for the Birth Control Campaign and Trust and was assistant administrator of the Parliament-based Co-ordinating Committee in Defence of the 1967 Abortion Act (Co-ord), working weekly in the House of Commons with pro-choice MPs. This put her in a position to link the campaign in the House with the women's movement-led campaign in the country at a time when Co-ord members believed the bill was impossible to defeat. They were, of course, able to defeat the bill and preserve abortion rights.

Kent was also an early member of the Maternity Alliance and editor of CHC News, the magazine for Community Health Councils, which closed in early 1984 after attacks from the Thatcher government. She continued her involvement in many feminist organizations of the period until leaving the country in late 1984.

Scope and content

Papers of Gill Kent relating to her involvement in reproductive rights and campaigning, including as part of Maternity Alliance and National Abortion Campaign and a founding member of the Campaign Against the Corrie Bill (CAC). (1974-1985)

Quantity

10 boxes.