Dr. Henry Morgentaler, OC

To T Thiwm,

Well, this is not really a lone individual/small group of people who oppose his award, so the Anders thing isn’t quite applicable. If you look at the online polls being done, the vast majority of newspaper polls (not people, because it’s usually around 60/40) are against him getting the Order. Even pro-choice people vote against him getting it, because of how divisive the issue is. When at least half (at a minimum) of Canada opposes this award, it cannot be given in good conscience.

Well, here we actually get into the part of the ethical debate where we actually have a grey area. What indeed do you do with a woman who is refuses to bear her child, despite all incentives, and will harm herself to prevent her pregnancy coming to term?

The world we have is not the world we want to live in. That’s why religious communities looking for a perfect world separate themselves from it. All we are left with is the ceaseless striving toward something better. The pro-life position is radical in which they attempt to preserve life while avoiding the abuses of the past. It will require a sense of thinking and a new social structure that has only been hinted at and never existed. No matter how much we strive, it will also never really exist.

If you have started thinking about environmentalism, the analogy is apt. No amount of social tinkering and scientific utopianism will ever solve all the environmental crisis that is man. But we always have to strive for something better, and altering our ethical thinking is key to that.

The place of the state to intervene is also gray. Some pro-life people want to go back to a blanket ban, because it is believed that a few tragedies will be a lesser evil than the great one. It is a position I am sympathetic too, but have to dismiss because there are simply too many people that view abortion as a good. The social attitude has to change before the law can be changed. It would be like bringing in a absolute regime to stop consumption or pollution, which would lead to the death of millions. To simply ban abortion would lead to the death of thousands anyway, only it would be our daughters in addition to our granddaughters and grandsons. Some would argue that laws should exist to reach those that no amount of ethical preaching would reach, such as those who terminate in the last trimester. Most developed nations, more liberal than our own, have laws to that prohibit this and I do not believe it leads to a great deal of suffering, because usually if people are willing to be pregnant for 20 weeks, they are usually willing to be pregnant for the remainder. The only ones who really want to abort at this stage are those who don’t want to suffer a disabled child to live. So this abortion law is the one I want.

For the rest, I can only speak to those who will listen and offer my help to those who will accept it. However, I will never, ever accept the fact that what we are doing now is moral, and that we can’t do better. I will never accept the arguments for unrestricted abortions as anything but monstrous. An abortion occurs because of the failure from the mother, the father, the grandparents, the extended family, the church and the state. It will never ever be a desired goal or a blessing.

The Order of Canada has this Biblical reference engraved on it:
“He desired a better country” (see Hebrews 11:16).

Perhaps a brief description of the recipients deeds should also be engraved.

On Dr. Henry Morgentaler’s medal,
one appropriate Biblical quote would be:
“he ripped open the pregnant women”
see: Amos 1:13
http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=ripped+open

I am attempting to unearth the real reason why Henry Morgentaler has been so obsessed with performing abortions. I remember an article in Macleans some time in the 1970′s which was either written by him or it was an interview by some reporter. In the course of the article, he is quoted as saying that Hitler was an unwanted child, so Hitler went on to be evil and kill millions of Jews. He alluded to thinking that unwanted babies grow up with hate inside them. In a documentary by the CBC in 1999 on their Life & Times series, Mr. Morgentaler is quoted as saying : ” Children that are born and loved and well nurtured don’t build concentration camps.” ( http://www.cbc.ca/lifeandtimes/morgentaler.html )So, the question ( not allegation) is, does Mr. Morgentaler have so many abortions done because these are obviously unwanted babies,and might turn out to be just like Hitler, or because of his claim that he stands behind womens’ rights as guaranteed in the Charter Of Rights And Freedoms ? I can’t help but wonder about these things.

@John D: Nicely put.

I agree with Rex Murphy. If Morgentaler can receive an OC (which although I oppose abortions, I do not oppose him receiving an OC) why not give an OC to Don Cherry for his longstanding support of our troops and other good causes?
Don Cherry for OC!!

There is a difference between tolerating and accepting that legalized abortion is the reality in Canada, and endorsing it. Giving the Order of Canada to Morgentaler is an endorsement of his medical practices, no two ways about it. Canadian society is enlightened enough to allow legal abortions; but really, endorsing it? It’s a bit much, thanks.

I find the sweeping generalizations about people who oppose abortion ignorant. I am a woman. I am not a fundamentalist. I use contraception. I am a professional. I am a liberal. And yet, I view abortion as wrong and Morgentaler’s leadership in this area is nothing to celebrate.