Morgentaler, a Polish Holocaust survivor, is a passionate believer that women should have, as a basic human right, access to safe abortions. He opened his first abortion clinic in Montreal in 1969, when the procedure was still illegal in Canada, and as a result served ten months in Montreal’s Bordeaux Jail.
He battled tirelessly for women's right to choose, suffering subsequent arrests, his clinics enduring several raids and one firebombing in Toronto in 1992. On January 28, 1988, a day he recalls as the greatest of his life, the Supreme Court of Canada declared the nation's abortion law unconstitutional.
“Well-loved children grow into adults who do not build concentration camps, do not rape and do not murder,” Morgentaler said when awarded his first honorary degree in June 2005 at the University of Western Ontario.
At last, at 85 years of age, Henry Morgentaler is being honoured by our nation for his dedication to women's reproductive rights. Doctor's no longer face possible life sentences for performing abortions. Women no longer have to appeal to a three doctor hospital committe to exercise their right to choose or risk injury undergoing unsafe illegal abortions and serving up to two years in prison. The right to choose is ours alone and seeing as of last Friday, 124 of 163 faxes and emails sent to the Governor General's office condemned Morgentaler's inclusion to the Order of Canada, many Canadians may now be taking this right for granted.
I believe the majority of Canadians support women's access to safe abortions but right now those majority voices aren't being heard. This week Shameless Magazine is asking pro-choice Canadians to turn up the volume and email, fax or write your support for Henry Morgentaler's naming to the Order of Canada to the Governor General's Office.
I got my letter sent off last week. Want to make your voice heard?
E-mail: info@gg.ca
Phone: 613-993-8200
Toll-free: 1-800-465-6890
Fax: 613-998-8760
Mail: Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean
Governor General of Canada
Rideau Hall
1 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A1
