"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. The situation has improved greatly over most of Canada, and I'm proud of that."
~ Dr. Henry Morgentaler
~ Dr. Henry Morgentaler
On July 1st, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, announced the latest appointees to the Order of Canada, our nation's highest civilian honour. Among them, one of Canada's most controversial citizens, Dr. Henry Morgentaler, "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."
Born in Poland in the 20's, Morgentaler survived Auschwitz. After WWII, he immigrated to Canada, settled in Montreal, completed his studies in medicine and opened his practice. In 1967 Morgentaler addressed a House of Commons "Health and Welfare Commitee", advocating that Canada repeal its abortion laws so as "to give women the right to choose". In challenging the Criminal Code, he performed abortions in his clinic in contravention of the law and was charged and then acquitted in several jury trials. When a higher court overturned a lower court decision, he served ten months in jail. In 1988 the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the abortion laws, deeming them unconstitutional.
If you missed Dr. Morgentaler's visit to The Hour last October, you can watch the interview here.
Since the announcement of Dr. Morgentaler's appointment, the decision of the Order's Advisory Council , has been debated in the court of public opinion. Here are some opposing views...
Since the announcement of Dr. Morgentaler's appointment, the decision of the Order's Advisory Council , has been debated in the court of public opinion. Here are some opposing views...
"Dr. Morgentaler upholds the Canadian values of democracy, human rights,
equality for women."
~ Joyce Arthur, Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada
“Canada’s highest honour has been debased. We are all diminished.”
~ Most Rev. Thomas Collins, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto
"Dr. Morgentaler’s efforts put both his reputation and his personal safety at risk in the name of advancing a woman’s right to choose. I believe the Order of Canada is an appropriate way to recognize the sacrifices he made in the name of women’s rights. Today, abortion is safer and more accessible in Canada and that is something we can never take for granted."
~ Jack Layton, NDP leader
"Henry Morgentaler’s Canada is not my Canada."
~ Douglas Farrow, associate professor of Christian Thought, McGill University
I have always had conflicting views on the issue of abortion. I often associate those who perform the procedure in the context of "one man's (or in this case, woman's) terrorist is another man's freedom fighter". In cases of rape/incest or where pre-natal testing determines severe birth defects exist and there would be little (if any) quality of life, I think yes. In the case of sexual irresponsibilty, where abortion becomes a form of birth control after the fact, I consider all the people unable to have children who are on an adoption waiting list and I think no.
Should Dr. Henry Morgentaler be a recipient of the Order of Canada? I guess it depends on WHO you consider him to be...a terrorist or a freedom fighter?
5 comments:
Well done Steph. It's a difficult and controversial subject so many feel strongly about. It was an uninterestingly interview on The Hour. I wonder how much feedback they got when that aired...
Very few people who are pro-choice would likely say that they 'favour' abortion. Even for those who feel they must choose this procedure, do not do so with glee or without considerable soul searching.
George, we can't forget that outside of the examples you provide (rape, medical distress of fetus) there are still valid reasons a woman might choose this option that have nothing to do with sexual irresponsibility. There is no birth control that is 100% effective. Some young women have not had access to proper sex education or easy access to birth control. Let's not forget that Catholic schools (supported by tax dollars in certain provinces) do not provide information about birth control.
I once heard Dr. Morgentaler explain that it was the Holocaust that made him understand how important it is that every child born be a wanted child. That wanted children were less likely to grow up to be adults capable of the atrocities committed in Germany during that period. Although I am sure that many would find that a controversial analysis, I found it quite compelling.
It is simple for those who aren't (and might I add can't get) pregnant to say, just carry the fetus to term and give the child up for adoption. Nine months of physical change, discomfort (and yes some risk) to then give away the child is very difficult even when the pregnancy was unplanned and the mother knows she is not ready or able to raise that child. Add to that pain, knowing that somewhere out there you have a biological child who may or may not want to eventually establish a relationship... That is a huge thing to ask. I have known a few adoptees and their childhoods have not been idyllic and their eventual reunions have not always gone well.
I guess my point is that in the end, there is no right answer because there are simply too many variables . It must be the woman who decides whether she carries and keeps, carries and offers the child for adoption or terminates the pregnancy.
anon.. you may want to read a bit more closely.. George did not write that post.. George in fact does not contribute to this blog..I'm sure the writers here value your opinion and you bring up some valid points.. just try and make sure you know who you're addressing
I liked the interview when it aired.. I thought it was a bit stilted but considering Dr. Morgentaler's age etc I think it went well
I believe abortion should be available but should not be used as a form birth control.. too many people have one after another after another and don't seem to learn their lesson..
E.G
My choice. My body. My life. No "pro-lifer" has the right to tell ME what I can do with MY body. The priest that wants to give back his Order of Canada because he can't stand being in the Order with Morgentaler is doing the right thing, we don't need bigoted morons like him. Morgentaler put reproductive control where it should be... in the hands of the woman. No one else, not some man, not some pro-lifer, no one has the right to ever say what we can or cannot do with our own bodies and lives. And we can all thank Morgentaler for fighting and risking his life to give women the CHOICE to do what they think is right.
Was Morgentaler ever at Auschwitz??? If not, did he lie to us about his medical education in Germany??? Did he become an abortionist in an effort to cover up his ignorance of medicine that was showing in his general "medical" practice???? Did he become abortion activist just to save his life by staying in a spotlight just so MOSSAD would have a hard time to take him out as an impostor of a victim of Holocaust??
The "tattooed" number 95077 that Morgentaler remembers so well seems to be way too low. He allegedly arrived at Auschwitz in 1944. Henryk Mandelbaum who arrived at Auschwitz on April 10, 1944 had number 181970.
The only way Morgentaler could get away with his lie would be if Germans were to recycle their numbers. According to this link: http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007056
it never happen with Jewish prisoners, and yes numbers were assigned not only in sequential but also in alphabetical order (going by last name of prisoner) in each transport that arrived.
http://www.auschwitz.org.pl/new/index.php?language=PL&tryb=szukaj_adv
Partially salvaged Auschwitz Records show 297 finds of numbers in 95xxx range. Many entries indicate that prisoner died in March or April of 1943. Some were shot dead on 19 of February of 1943, others were shot after an escape attempt on 13 February of 1943
Close numbers
Abelowicz, Chaim
ur.28.10.1910 (Słonim), numer obozowy:95043, zawód:krawiec
Pulchny, Stanisław
ur.17.4.1915 (Głogoczów), numer obozowy:95103, zawód:rolnik
Mijas, Leon
ur.19.1.1921 (Ruda Białaczowska), numer obozowy:95176, zawód:górnik
Czerwieniak, Asafan
ur.1912 (Wierchomnia), numer obozowy:95236, uwagi:rozstrz. 19.2.1943 w Au
Czerwieniak, Jan
, numer obozowy:95235, uwagi:zm. 30.8.1943 w Au
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I found him!!!
Morgentaler was in fact at Auschwitz concentration camp during WWII.
Abramek Morgentaler from Woclawek, that is, who is now living in Israel.
http://www.naszwloclawek.prv.pl/index.php?wloc=zydzi4
Abramek Morgentaler skończył osiemdziesiąt jeden lat, ma się dobrze, chociaż ostatnio martwiłam się o jego zdrowie. Pielęgnowany przez cudowną żonę Elę i całą rodzinę, szybko powrócił do zdrowia. Kiedy bomby spadały na Hajfę, jego serce i płuca zaniemogły. Modliłam się do Boga i Bóg mnie wysłuchał.
Abramek jako trzynastoletni chłopiec stracił całą rodzinę. Niemcy zagazowali jego rodziców i trzy siostry w obozie zagłady w Chełmnie nad Nerem. On zesłany do obozów pracy i koncentracyjnego w Auschwitz cudem ocalał.
Translation: Abramek Morgentaler just turned 81, he is doing well, I was concerned over his health lately. Nursed by his wonderful wife Eli and whole family, he quickly recovered. When bombs fell on Hajfa his heart and his lungs failed. I prayed to God , and God heard my prayers.
Abramek as thirteen years old boy lost his whole family. Germans gassed his parents and three sisters in Chelm concentration camp. He was send to labour camps and Auschwitz concentration camp, by a miracle he survived.
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Lets see what we have:
Abelowicz, Chaim
born 28.10.1910 (Słonim), prisoner number: 95043, profession: tailor
Pulchny, Stanisław
born 17.4.1915 (Głogoczów), prisoner number: 95103, profession: farmer
Mijas, Leon
born 19.1.1921 (Ruda Białaczowska), prisoner number: 95176, profession: miner
Henry Morgentaler claims that his prisoner number was 95077
First name on that list is Jewish and starts with "Ab" and has number 95043 assigned to it. We can safely assume that he was first on a list of prisoners that came on this particular transport.
Other name starts with "Pu" and has number 95103, assigned to it.
Morgentaler starts with "Mo" and he claims that his prisoner number was 95077. It does make sense as M falls between A and P in German alphabet.
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Now we get this:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Remembering-the-end-of-horror-that-was-Auschwitz/2005/01/27/1106415733762.html
"It's much easier not to think about it, not to acknowledge what people did to other people not so long ago," said Polish Jew Abraham Mor-Morgentaler, who spent two years in the camp.
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http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/425822/470816
"It's much easier not to think about it, not to acknowledge what people did to other people not so long ago," said Abraham Mor-Morgentaler, a Polish Jew who spent two years in Auschwitz. "But if we forget, the genocide may return."
Mor-Morgentaler is one of the few who, by chance or cunning, cheated death at Auschwitz. Most Jews arriving there by cattle trains were sent straight to gas chambers and their bodies burned in one of the camp's five crematoriums.
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Now it all starts to make sense; Polish Jew Abraham Morgentaler from Woclawek arrives at Auschwitz in January of 1943 and is freed two years later by Russian Army in January of 1945.
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Is it possible that "Henry Morgentaler" that we know, knew about (his relative ???) Abraham Morgentaler that was sent to Auschwitz in January of 1943, and he somehow learned of his prisoner number??
Is it possible that "Morgentaler" that we know decided to use this knowledge and wrap himself in martyrdom just to get ahead in life??
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/abortion/morgentaler.html
A Polish Jew who survived the Auschwitz death camp (where he was tattooed with number 95077), Morgentaler has pointed many times to what he saw as one of the root causes of Hitler’s death machine – unwanted children who were fighting back against a family that abused them.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/series/morgentaler/
In 1944, Henry, his brother and their mother were rounded up and shipped to Auschwitz. His number isn't tattooed on his arm because, by then, the Nazis were too rushed. “But I remember my number: 95077.”
http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/20080617137021/wire/world-news/henryk-mandelbaum-auschwitz-survivor-forced-to-strip-fellow-jews-dies-at-85.html Henryk Mandelbaum
He was forced to do the work from his arrival in Auschwitz, at age 21, on April 10, 1944, until January 1945, when the Nazis forced him and other fit inmates on a death march to flee the advancing Red Army. The Soviets liberated the camp on Jan. 27, 1945, finding the weak and sick left behind.
During his months in the camp, Mandelbaum - inmate number 181970 - witnessed the death of some of the 400,000 Jews brought in transports from Hungary in the summer of 1944, and handled their dead bodies.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/series/morgentaler/
"His brother's ashes have been scattered at Auschwitz joining those of their mother, who was on the same death train as her sons but never came out."
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/07/02/f-vp-mallick.html
I remember what Morgentaler has told me about Lodz, about how he had a repeated dream of being surrounded by Nazi guards in uniform. In 1944, he was taken to Auschwitz by train, his mother was sent off for immediate gassing, and he scarcely survived his time there, literally dodging bullets in the last days of the Second World War.
http://www.jewishtoronto.net/page.aspx?id=106451
Two men fell in love with Rosenfarb during those difficult years: the young Henry Morgentaler, who dreamed of becoming a doctor, and Bono Wiener, five years older than her, who was a leader of the illegal resistance against the Germans in the ghetto. In April 1945, she and Morgantaler were liberated from Bergen Belsen and smuggled themselves into Belgium where they were not allowed to work.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/abortion/morgentaler.html
After his liberation from Auschwitz, Morgentaler won a scholarship and used it to study medicine in Germany. The new doctor and his wife emigrated to Canada in 1950 and settled in Montreal, where he practised family medicine, embraced humanism and enjoyed life.
http://www.freedominion.com.pa/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=101715&sid=ae93b47e979a338aba09671ed2751d7a
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Posted: 07/ 10/ 08 4:24 pm Post subject:
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Maybe we have the beginnings of a conspiracy theory here.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/series/morgentaler/
Born in Lodz, Poland, on March 19, 1923, Dr. Morgentaler was …
He's obviously enjoying himself immensely as he tucks into a dinner of caviar, borscht and blinis at a Montreal Russian restaurant, Troika, that was a favourite of his late brother, Mike. … This is the place where he and Mike, who died in 1996, …
“When I was 4¼, my brother was born,”
From this we know Morgentaler was born in 1923, his brother Mike was born 4 years later, that is 1927, and his brother died in 1996. They were both born in Lodz Poland.
http://clcbc.org/morg/ts85.htm
Morgentaler does not own the Harbord St. building. It's owned by Gestions Habal Inc., of Montreal, which is his brother Abram's firm. Abram (Mike) Morgentaler told The Star ...
His brother’s original name is Abram.
But Yad Vashem, the world’s greatest source of holocaust information, says that Abram died in the Holocaust.
http://tinyurl.com/6d538f
Abram Morgentaler was born in 1927. Prior to WWII he lived in Lodz, Poland. During the war he was in Lodz, Ghetto. Abram perished in the Shoah. This information is based on a List of Lodz ghetto inmates found in the Lodz Names - List of the ghetto inhabitants 1940-1944, Yad Vashem and the Organization of former residents of Lodz in Israel, Jerusalem 1994.
Full Record Details for Morgentaler Abram
Source Lodz Names - List of the ghetto inhabitants 1940-1944, Yad Vashem and the Organization of former residents of Lodz in Israel, Jerusalem 1994
Last Name MORGENTALER
First Name ABRAM
First Name ABRAM
Sex Male
Date of Birth 27/09/1927
Permanent residence LODZ,LODZ,LODZ,POLAND
Place during the war LODZ,GHETTO
Street in Ghetto SPERLING GASSE
House No. in Ghetto 16 FLAT 2
New Street in Ghetto DOM
New House No. in Ghetto 9
Occupation in Ghetto/Camp PUPIL
Type of material List of Lodz ghetto inmates
Language German
If Henry’s original name was Henoch, he also died.
http://tinyurl.com/654msh
Henoch Morgentaler was born in 1923. Prior to WWII he lived in Lodz, Poland. During the war he was in Lodz, Ghetto. Henoch perished in the Shoah. This information is based on a List of Lodz ghetto inmates found in the Lodz Names - List of the ghetto inhabitants 1940-1944, Yad Vashem and the Organization of former residents of Lodz in Israel, Jerusalem 1994.
Full Record Details for Morgentaler Henoch
Source Lodz Names - List of the ghetto inhabitants 1940-1944, Yad Vashem and the Organization of former residents of Lodz in Israel, Jerusalem 1994
Last Name MORGENTALER
First Name HENOCH
Sex Male
Date of Birth 19/03/1923
Permanent residence LODZ,LODZ,LODZ,POLAND
Place during the war LODZ,GHETTO
Street in Ghetto SPERLING GASSE
House No. in Ghetto 16 FLAT 2
New Street in Ghetto DOM
New House No. in Ghetto 9
Occupation in Ghetto/Camp TEACHER
Type of material List of Lodz ghetto inmates
Language German
Did Mike and Henry take over the identities of the true Morgentalers?
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