The naming of abortion-rights activist Dr. Henry Morgentaler to the Order of Canada is being met with both applause and outrage

[Karen]

By Terry Pedwell, The Canadian Press


OTTAWA - The naming of abortion-rights activist Dr. Henry Morgentaler
to the Order of Canada is being met with both applause and outrage.


The Harper government was quick to distance itself from the decision.


Morgentaler, best known for taking the issue of abortion rights all
the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, is among 75 people who will
receive the prestigious national honour.


"The Conservative government is not involved in either deliberations
or decisions with respect to which individuals are appointed to the
Order of Canada," said Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for Prime Minister
Stephen Harper.


"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."


Morgentaler was instrumental in having the high court strike down
Criminal Code restrictions on abortion on Jan. 28, 1988, making Canada
the only western democracy with no criminal sanctions of any kind
against abortion.


He is to be named at a later date as a member of the Order of Canada
for both his health care and humanitarian work, said a statement
posted Tuesday on the governor general's website.


"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," the
statement reads.


Author and feminist Judy Rebick said "it's about time" Morgentaler was
recognized for his work.


"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."


Joyce Arthur of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada said
Morgentaler is deserving of the award.


"He's the epitomy of what the Order of Canada is looking for because
of his sacrifice and his dedication and the changes he made for the
lives of women," Arthur said Tuesday night. "He's literally saved the
lives of thousands of women, I think, over the years."


But opponents of abortion say the Order of Canada is meant to unify
Canadians, not divide them.


"We think the Order of Canada should focus on things that unite us,
positive values," said Joanne McGarry, executive director of the
Catholic Civil Rights League. "I think it should go to people who all
Canadians can look up to and admire and whose undertakings are
inspiring for us."


McGarry added that honouring Morgentaler implicitly endorses abortion,
and many Canadians will be offended by the decision.


"Suffice it to say that a great many people would take umbrage at the
award and therefore perhaps it would become a less prestigious
honour," she said.


Most Rev. Thomas Collins, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto, said
in a statement that the Order of Canada will be "debased" if
Morgentaler receives the award.

"Canada glories in the names of Banting and Best, and the other
medical heroes who selflessly brought healing where there was disease
and suffering," the statement said. "Now it honours with the Order of
Canada a medical man who has brought not healing, but the destruction
of the defenceless and immeasurable grief."

But Rebick said many people who have received the Order of Canada in
the past haven't made "anywhere near the impact" on Canadian society
that Morgentaler has.

"If you want to make change in the world, you have to be
controversial," she said. "That's part of being a change agent, and
Dr. Morgentaler is a change agent, and we should celebrate that in
this country."

Morgentaler, a Polish-born physician who survived the infamous Dachau
concentration camp, quit his family practice in Montreal in 1968 to
open his first abortion clinic in defiance of the laws of the day.

He soon found himself before the courts, where he was acquitted by a
jury that accepted his defence of medial necessity for the abortions
he performed. But the verdict was overturned on appeal and he went to
jail for 10 months.

It took three more trials and three more acquittals - two in Quebec,
one in Ontario - before his case made it to the Supreme Court.

The Order of Canada is the country's highest civilian honour to
recognize a lifetime of outstanding achievement and dedication to
community.

Also named Tuesday as Companions of the Order of Canada were Kim
Campbell, the country's first female prime minister, and former
Supreme Court justice John Major, who recently headed the inquiry into
the 1985 Air India bombing that killed 331 people.

Among those named an Officer of the Order was rocker Randy Bachman,
formerly of The Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive, for his
contributions as an iconic Canadian rock musician and his support of
Canadian music.

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