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This Day In 1970's History: Wednesday December 7, 1977

A joint resolution on abortion was voted by the House and the Senate in a compromise that ended a five-month impasse that had held up appropriations for two major departments. The compromise liberalizes current law by permitting the use of Medicaid funds for abortions for physically ill women and for certain medical procedures to avert pregnancy for some victims of incest and rape. [New York Times] Evidence from F.B.I. files showed that J. Edgar Hoover was convinced two weeks after the death of President Kennedy that Lee Harvey Oswald had killed him but wondered whether secret conspirators in Cuba had helped Oswald. Material examined so far does not contradict the official finding that Oswald acted alone. [New York Times] The dollar continued to sag on world currency market, flirting with new lows against the West German mark and Swiss franc. London traders ascribed its weakness to American failure to produce an energy policy. There were more warnings in Europe that the dollar's year-long slide threatened the recovery from recession. [New York Times] Stock prices steadied after Tuesday's sharp decline. The Dow Jones industrial average edged ahead by 0.52 to 807.43 points, although most issues showed a modest decline. [New York Times] A tax on "gas guzzlers" won tentative agreement from House and Senate conferees to start with 1978 model cars. It is conditional on rejection by another group of conferees of a ban on high-mileage automobiles starting in 1980, which the conference leaders expect. Administration officials, although plainly pleased with the victory, withheld comment pending action by the other conferees. [New York Times]

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