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Henry Morgentaler named to Order of Canada


The Governor General's Office announced Tuesday abortion rights activist Dr. Henry Morgentaler has been named to the Order of Canada.

Morgentaler gets Order of Canada
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Dr. Henry Morgentaler leaves a news conference in Montreal on Monday, January 16, 2006. (Ian Barrett / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

CTV.ca News Staff

Morgentaler is among 75 Canadians appointed for one of Canada's highest honours. The appointments -- which went into effect in April -- also include former prime minister Kim Campbell, former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna, and former Vancouver mayor Philip Owen.

The Governor General's website states that Morgentaler was made a member of the Order of Canada for "his commitment to increased health care options for women, his determined efforts to influence Canadian public policy and his leadership in humanist and civil liberties organizations."

Morgentaler has been a controversial figure for decades, playing a key role in striking down Canada's abortion laws in 1988. He had been openly performing illegal abortions -- which had been only allowed on limited terms in some hospitals -- since the late 1960s. He now runs clinics across Canada.

While some consider Morgentaler a hero for his legal and political battles on behalf of abortion and women's rights, many anti-abortion activists consider him undeserving of one of Canada's most prestigious honours.

Feminist author Judy Rebick said Morgentaler's appointment was long over due.

"Certainly most women believe this is a huge victory, and he put his liberty and his life on the line to win it, and I think that should be recognized," she said.

"The abortion debate is over in this country, the pro-choice side won, and Dr. Morgentaler was a big part of that victory."

The Globe and Mail reported that his appointment divided the advisory committee, which chooses appointees. Maurice Vellacott, a Saskatchewan MP, told the paper most appointees are chosen unanimously, but he heard that was not the case with Morgentaler.

The appointment has outraged some conservative politicians.

"I can't believe that this was done on Canada Day, a day we should be coming together," Regina MP Andrew Scheer told CTV.ca on Tuesday afternoon.

"I think this actually debased the Order of Canada."

Scheer, a Tory who describes himself as "pro-life," said he's planning to call members of the advisory panel that suggested the appointment and ask, "Why did you do this?"

Scheer's party is also distancing itself from the appointment. Dimitri Soudas, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Stephen Harper told The Canadian Press, "The Conservative government is not involved in either deliberations or decisions with respect to which individuals are appointed to the Order of Canada."

"Rideau Hall makes these appointments based on the recommendations of the Advisory Council for the Order which is chaired by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.''

Recipients will receive insignia commemorating the honour at a ceremony to be held a later date.

what were the laws before 1988?

Abortion in Canada (History, Law, and Access)
http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada...nada.shtml

Canadian Abortion Law History
http://www.hackcanada.com/canadian/freed...story.html

Awesome! Go, Canada!
Jen m.

http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada...nada.shtml
"Canada is one of the very few countries in the world that has NO criminal law restricting abortion at all. We first liberalized our law against abortion in 1969; then our Supreme Court threw it out completely in 1988. And we've been doing just fine without it. In the 11 years since we began our great experiment, we've found that doctors and women exercise the right to abortion responsibly, without the need for any legal restrictions. We don't need gestational limits. We don't need waiting periods. We don't need parental or spousal consent laws. And we don't need restrictions on certain types of abortions. "

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/CanadaW...1-sun.html

Morgentaler says award vindicates his long fight to legalize abortion

Thu, July 3, 2008
By KRISTINE OWRAM, THE CANADIAN PRESS



TORONTO -- Abortion rights activist Dr. Henry Morgentaler said yesterday he's honoured that his work has "finally" been recognized with Canada's highest civilian honour and hopes the country has set an example for governments around the world.

Best known for taking his fight to the Supreme Court and striking down the country's abortion laws 20 years ago, Morgentaler expressed surprise that those opposed to him being named to the Order of Canada have not been "more violent."

While also not shocked that the Harper government has distanced itself from the controversial decision, Morgentaler said he's proud that abortion has become "one of the safest surgical techniques" in the country.

"Women no longer die as a result of abortion, women no longer get cut up or damaged as a result of abortion, women no longer lose their fertility as a result of abortion," Morgentaler, 85, said at a news conference at his Toronto clinic.

"The situation has improved greatly over most of Canada and I'm proud of that."




Morgentaler, who was imprisoned for 10 months for performing abortions illegally before the law was struck down and once saw his clinic bombed, said the award vindicates the personal sacrifices he made.

"I think it's a sign of recognition for all the work that I've done over the years and the sacrifices I've borne and the unjust sentence of imprisonment that I suffered," he said.

"I hope that Canada has set an example and that internationally, people in governments will respond to it."

Abortion rights groups applauded the decision, announced Tuesday, saying Morgentaler put his life and liberty on the line to advance women's rights.

"Dr. Morgentaler upholds the Canadian values of democracy, human rights, equality for women," said Joyce Arthur of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada.

"It's really overdue for him to be recognized for his great achievement and the positive impact he's had on the lives of Canadian women."

Arthur added that she's not surprised it took so long for Morgentaler to receive the honour.

"There's always going to be some division and controversy about him. Canada is the only democratic country in the world that has no law on abortion," she said.

"We set a good example for the rest of the world, and this Order of Canada further sets a good example because it sends a strong message that our society officially supports abortion rights and women's rights and we're not afraid to say it out loud."

But opponents of abortion say the award devalues the Order of Canada.

Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith has written to Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean to ask that the decision not be allowed to stand and the Canadian Council of Catholic Bishops asked that the nomination be reconsidered.

"Far from improving our country, Dr. Morgentaler's actions continue to create controversy and division in our nation," the council said in a statement.

"In the name of freedom of choice, he has encouraged the development of a culture of death and has thus attacked the most vulnerable, the unborn."

http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnist...41-sun.php

Honour for Morgentaler is long overdue

By CONNIE WOODCOCK

A very long time ago, when I was young and stupid, I had an experience that remains one of the scariest of my life: I thought I was pregnant.

I was 20, in my third year at journalism school with a bright future -- but I could see my whole life disappearing before my eyes. It had happened to several friends and acquaintances in high school and their lives were ruined. One managed to finish high school but that's all. The others dropped out, made bad marriages or lived in poverty, waiting tables or clerking in a supermarket to get by.

Birth control was available and I was in the first generation of girls who could obtain it. But as with many of my friends, it was just too scary to walk into the school doctor's office and ask for a prescription.

I wasn't pregnant after all, but the days I waited seemed two months long, and a friend's offer to let me come and live with her in Alberta until the baby was born and could be put up for adoption didn't make me feel any better.

Sadly, when my own daughter went away to university, I discovered today's young women aren't any brighter when it comes to sex and with fewer excuses for it. More than a few of her friends and acquaintances got pregnant. They didn't want to. They didn't need to. But they did.



I don't know what choices any of them made, but the big difference was they had choice.

Which is why I am delighted to see Dr. Henry Morgentaler is to receive the Order of Canada.

It's about time and long, long overdue. This is the man whose courage and determination released Canadian women from the tyranny of their biology. The right to an abortion, as far as I'm concerned, is right up there with the end of slavery. You can go on all you like about aborted babies and the right to life and the moment when life begins, but I think of all the lives saved -- and there are thousands -- since Canada's abortion law was overturned and not replaced.

I'm just sorry not all Canadian women have access to abortion even now. For those without much money, who live in isolated areas or near a church-run hospital, it's as far away as ever.

(And skip the raging anti-abortion e-mails. I won't read them. Been there; done that. Don't care what you think any more.)

Dr. Morgentaler could have done the easy thing -- lived a peaceful, rewarding life as a gynecologist. Instead, he spearheaded the pro-choice movement when no one else -- certainly no politician -- was willing to even be associated with it.

This is a man who knows a lot about suffering and death -- he is a Holocaust survivor -- yet he was willing to go to jail and to face death threats rather than give up. That alone should have earned him the Order long ago.

I knew his appointment would cause a wave of outrage from those Canadians who would deny women the right to an abortion and the predictable bile is being spilled. But I think better of Canadian Auto Workers leader Buzz Hargrove, who also was appointed to the Order, for saying he was thrilled to be on the list with Dr. Morgentaler. Way to go, Buzz, for once.

There have even been those who wonder darkly at the motives of the advisory council which does the nominations, led by Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin. Way to go, Chief Justice. Your courage is admirable.

THE RIGHT THING

That's the business of such councils: To do the right thing, not the popular or easy thing.

The Order of Canada is intended for people who have improved Canadians' lives. If saving the lives and futures of countless women isn't improving Canada, I don't know what is. And even though I never needed an abortion myself and don't even know if I could face one, this man spent his life devoted to my welfare.

The Order of Canada cannot be awarded posthumously. Dr. Morgentaler is 85 and in ill health. This might be the last opportunity to let him know in concrete terms his country appreciates him. This was the right thing to do -- finally

OMG. We need folks like him to "edjamacate" our cave-dwelling leaders here in the US!



Jen M.

A champion of personal liberty
John Moore, National Post
Published: Thursday, July 03, 2008


Dr. Henry Morgentaler is like a Rorschach Test. Show his picture to activist Judy Rebick, or one of the millions of Canadian women who have undergone an abortion they do not regret, and they see a hero; a man who put principal ahead of personal freedom and safety.

To people of faith and many more, Morgentaler is a mass murderer responsible for the annual slaughter of 100,000 babies in our country. Law professor Ian Hunter wrote in the National Post on Wednesday that Morgentaler's work is so repellent that he can't even bring himself to accord him the honorific "Doctor." Gwen Landolt, a co-founder of the conservative group REAL Women, wrote off Morgentaler's recent admission to the Order of Canada as yet more proof that the Order has been co-opted by "left-wing feminists, homosexuals and environmentalists."

How one feels about abortion necessarily becomes the lens through which the man himself is seen. His personality is suffused with either charisma or egotism. The fact that he escaped the Holocaust either affirms his respect for the sanctity of life -- or confirms that while the Nazi's failed to take his life they extinguished his soul.

Even putting aside the issue of abortion itself, Morgentaler is not the usual stuff of honours. He's a prickly, philandering anti-Zionist whose "abortuaries" (as pro-lifers sometimes call them) reportedly generate $11-million in annual revenue. Aren't social progressives supposed to despise for-profit medicine?

The honouring of Henry Morgentaler reaches into a philosophical divide deeper than the abortion issue itself. While his supporters are not all liberals and his detractors are not all conservatives, the two sides -- on aggregate analysis -- do tend to break out in left-right groupings.

Conservative philosophy holds that there is an immutable moral and social order. Desired human behaviour can be shaped through positive examples and prohibitions and -- where these fail -- through social shame and punishment. Sex without the intention of creating children is discouraged first by labelling the act itself as wrong, and then by making it so difficult to obtain an abortion as to virtually compel a woman to bear a child she does not want.

Liberals, on the other hand, believe that neither the state nor society have a right to impose an external morality where self-regarding conduct is concerned. We acknowledge that the full spectrum of human behaviour means that some people make bad choices. Given that some women will become pregnant with babies they do not intend to carry to term, and that no amount of opprobrium or even danger to self will prevent them from seeking to terminate the pregnancy, the question becomes: How do we best mitigate the damage?

Of course, the debate becomes even more irreconcilable because those who oppose abortion typically do not regard terminating a pregnancy as self-regarding conduct: There is another human life involved.

Before Henry Morgentaler transitioned from family practitioner into an activist, it was common for Canadian hospitals to have dedicated wards where women suffering sepsis or unstoppable hemorrhaging from botched abortions were treated and, sometimes, died. Even today, the World Health Organization estimates that 68,000 women die annually from illegal abortions, while between two and seven million sustain long-term damage or disease.

No amount of moralizing, shame or red tape is ever going to create a world where some women don't seek an abortion, and Dr. Morgentaler recognized this. He fought so that a woman would not have to submit to the will of the state, the Church, another man or a hospital committee staffed by doctors she had never met.

The Campaign Life Coalition's Mary Ellen Douglas complains that inducting Henry Morgentaler into the Order is "like giving the Victoria Cross to a mercenary." But even mercenaries often rise to valour. Good battles can be fought by dubious people.

Morgentaler continues to be a confounding figure precisely because of the inscrutability of his motives. But his service to Canadian women and to the cause of personal liberty is a matter of record.

jmoore@cfrb.com - John Moore is the host of the drive home show on NewsTalk 1010 CFRB. Outside of southern Ontario he can be heard at http://www.cfrb.com.
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/stor...628494&p=2

Veto of Morgentaler would have set precedent
Although the Governor-General has the power to strike names from the advisory council's list, it has never happened, expert says
JANE TABER AND CAROLINE ALPHONSO

July 4, 2008

OTTAWA, TORONTO -- The Governor-General has the power to veto appointments to the Order of Canada, but it would have been highly unusual for her to use it to block abortion-rights activist Henry Morgentaler from receiving the honour, according to those familiar with the process.

And while a former prime minister and a former governor-general have reportedly intervened to delay appointments, one for political reasons, a spokeswoman for Michaëlle Jean said yesterday that she follows the recommendations of an independent advisory committee, chaired by the Chief Justice of Canada.

"The Governor-General accepts the recommendations of this duly constituted and independent advisory council," Lucie Caron said.

Christopher McCreery, the author of five books on the Canadian honours system, said the Governor-General is a neutral arbiter and it would be "highly, highly, highly unusual" for her to overturn a recommendation.

"In theory, the Governor-General could strike a name off, but it has never happened in Canada," he said.

Dr. Morgentaler's appointment to the Order of Canada this week has been controversial, highlighting the divide over abortion rights in Canada. Sources have told The Globe and Mail that the decision, usually arrived at by consensus, was put to a recorded vote and opposed by two government members of the advisory committee, Privy Council Clerk Kevin Lynch and deputy heritage minister Judith LaRocque.

Anti-abortion activists questioned why Ms. Jean did not override the vote.

"Since there's so many irregularities here, the fact there was no unanimity on the committee ... it really should never have gone forward if that was the case," said Mary Ellen Douglas, a spokeswoman for the Campaign Life Coalition. "If there ever was a time [for the Governor-General to veto the decision], this is it."

The Canada Family Action Coalition yesterday called on the Governor-General to rescind Dr. Morgentaler's appointment because the advisory council did not unanimously approve it and the abortion doctor was at one time sanctioned by a disciplinary committee of physicians, resulting in a violation of the constitution of the Order of Canada.

But supporters of Dr. Morgentaler said it's time he was recognized for spearheading the fight to legalize abortion in Canada. Individuals have nominated Dr. Morgentaler almost every year, and there have been at least three major public attempts.

Norman Barwin, himself a member of the Order of Canada and president of Canadians for Choice, sent a nomination letter to the advisory committee after the Supreme Court struck down the country's abortion law in 1988, and then another in 2002.

He received a call from the Governor-General's office about six months ago to ask whether he still stood by his original recommendations. "I used one word: Absolutely," Dr. Barwin said yesterday.

Dr. Barwin said he believes Dr. Morgentaler's name found its way back on the committee's list because of the letters of support and Dr. Morgentaler's age. He is 85 and recently suffered a severe stroke.

The University of Western Ontario's decision in 2005 to award the doctor his first honorary degree, despite dividing the campus and causing at least one $2-million bequest to be withdrawn, may have also played a part in the advisory committee taking notice, Dr. Barwin said.

"When he got the honorary degree, that was really saying, 'Look, a university has recognized him - a very prestigious university.' Amidst a lot of controversy, the university stood by it," he said. "That kind of rekindled it all again."

Shayna Hodgson, a spokesman for Dr. Morgentaler, said in an interview earlier this week that the honorary doctorate "was one piece of the puzzle, absolutely, that helped."

Dr. Morgentaler's appointment came into effect April 10, but it was released amid Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill on Tuesday.

Deciding on worthy recipients is designed to be a "pure process" - one without political influence or even subtle lobbying. However, that has not always been the case.

Mr. McCreery said that in 1972 then-governor-general Roland Michener delayed the appointment of one individual to allow a dying person to receive the award first.

And in 1978, then-prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and his Privy Council Clerk, Michael Pitfield, delayed the appointment of Paul Desmarais Sr., head of Montreal's Power Corp., for several months, he said.

There had been a difficult strike at the company's two newspapers, La Presse and Montreal-Matin. Mr. McCreery said that Mr. Desmarais was very unpopular at that time and "they thought it would reflect poorly on the government."

It would appear that Canada is light years ahead of the USA in this area. Well, in lots of areas, but particularly this one. Can you imagine if a pro-choice activist was honored in the USA? Holy crap! Would NEVER happen.

Sad but true.

Jen M.