I live in one of the first cities Morgantaler setup shop, or better yet an abortion clinic. Should have been here to see the wahoos and nutjobs protesting and harrasing the patients of the clinic. What an embarrasing spectacal. My we have come a long way since then. But the wahoos and nutjobs are still around. Unfortunately there are those of us up here who still think we have the right to control another persons body and freedom of choice.

And just to stir it up, all this can be publicy had, somewhat free of charge, just like most other medical services. Imagine that.

Just as an aside! Don't be bamboozled by what you hear. We do not have free health care in Canada. We pay for it in taxes, which amounts to nothing more than paying a corporation it's insurance premiums. Where I live we pay about an 8% tax on just about everything we purchase. That is supposed to go straight into the health care system. But what we don't get is turned away at a hospital if we don't have insurance. We all get guarnteed health care when we need it. And the health care is not second rate. Google polio vaccine or Greame Bethune as examples if you don't believe me.

The majority of us up here are slightly ahead of the curve when it comes to peoples freedom and right to choose anything at all. And that is a society I am fairly happy to live in. Now if we could only de-elect Stephen "mini-bush" Harper things may get even better.

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where right-thinking, upstanding, respectable, brave, wise, good people like these abortion doctors can live, not only without being harassed, but while being appreciated for their important contributions to society.

The next abortion rights pioneer who needs recognition is Dr Rebecca Gomperts of Amsterdam, who created the "abortion ships" of Women on Waves.

And we here in American need to locally show appreciation for the bravery of our own few abortion providers. These people are risking their lives to provide us with basic, essential medical care!

40% of women who have abortions in the US were using birth control when they got pregnant! Birth control fails!

The nutjobs, whackos and misogynistic control freaks who would use that simple, physical fact to try to force women back into the medieval netherworld of never knowing when they are suddenly going to turn up pregnant -- yes, that makes us unsuitable for high-responsibility jobs, etc just like everyone realized from ancient times right up until the development of modern medicine made women actually, physically equal to men -- should all be treated like the second-rate no-count idiots they are.

Jan VanDenBerg

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When I was young, it did happen often enough that one of the servant girls got pregnant, she was promptly sent to the country to have her child. When the same happened to family, they traveled to Switzerland for a cure, came back a few weeks later, much revived by the mountain air. That is still the same attitude in America today.

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...to be able to buy a glass of wine for Dr.Morgenthaler at a Royal Ontario Museum evening lecture (an Egyptian scholar speaking on the social & psychology perspectives regarding The Book of the Dead).

Honoured.

He's a courageous, principled & compassionate human who challenged the intolerance, dogmatism & selfish demands society's Power & Money.

Let's be honest: Money & Power are most interested in *dropping other human beings from the 'competition' of social participation*.

...Get pregnant? Too bad for you!
...Get raped? Too bad for you!
...Molested? Too bad for you!

Power & Money seek to define 'who is a full societal participant' or rules by which others must live that encumber their personal & social potential.

...Those who seek Money & Power perceive that anything BAD that happens to someone else is GOOD FOR THEMSELVES, improves their odds of success by splitting their "competition's" efforts & opportunities.

...you're damned right they ENJOY having someone else suffer or 'drop out of the competition...

...because the miseries of Others is a platform upon which the ReichWing may profit or exploit to their advantages. These are the same folks who think Disaster Capitalism is an OPPORTUNITY to be exploited to advantages upon the victims of circumstance or poor judgement.

...of course, there are always those folks who think *making decisions for other people* is 'guiding The MisGuided Masses to sound decisions & ethics'... & to those people there is little to say but "mind your own damned business"



┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄
BlueBerry Pick'n
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"... tolerance of intolerance is cowardice" ~ Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
"We, two, form a Multitude" ~ Ovid.
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"Silent Freedom is Freedom Silenced"
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How many women suffered through or died from illegal abortions? Dr. Morgenthaler went to jail, was attacked by right wing nuts, had his clinick set on fire and so on ,and so on. He deserves his order of Canada just as much as any other recipient. Afterall he gave women the right over their bodies and choice to have children or not.

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As a old fart with chronic diseases too yucky to mention, I'd like to preface my remarks by adding my voice to the chorus of congratulations to my country for putting in place a tolerable health care program.

Now for the specifics of the Morgentaler case.

First, Dr. Morgentaler endured jail time, court procedures, threats of all sorts including physical and social abuse from "pro-life" activists. A quick perusal of the daily press will reveal that the verbal abuse remains because he was recently awarded the "Order of Canada."

So, one cheer for the non-partisan committee that authorized the award. Chaired by the Chief Justice of the Canadian Supreme Court and populated by a minor "who's who" of Canada's economic, political and artistic elites, the group did a fine thing (knowing, of course, that they would be egregiously vilified by the political and religious right).

Second, although taken more seriously by the media than their numbers merit, the "anti-choice" segment of Canadian society is in fact a small minority. Public opinion polls show that the bulk of the population (roughly 80%) endorse the unfettered right of a woman to choose. So, a second cheer for the ordinary citizens who overwhelmingly support the decision to honour Dr. Morgentaler.

Third, the political institutions of Canada deserve some praise. It must, of course, be understood that women do not actually have the legal right to an abortion on demand. Because of a peculiar Supreme Court decision that struck down the law that criminalized abortion, the fact is that the law is now simply silent on the issue ... and no politician or party has been willing to raise it again. Pro-choice people see no need to start an unnecessary, divisive debate and pro-life people see no point, for most of them are realistic to know that they would loose badly. So, a third somewhat muted cheer for the Canadian penchant for "muddling through."

Fourth, of course, we have the presence of the very vocal Roman Catholic Church, various Evangelical Protestants and probably a few Jews, Muslims and others who have some Sky-God sanctioned belief that abortion is a sin. (Since Canada has a large Catholic population, it is plain that the fulminations of local archbishops do not persuade the otherwise faithful.) We also have imported American groups such as "REAL Women" which have denounced the tribute paid to Dr. Morgentaler and the "blue ribbon" committee that honoured him as a "left-wing conspiracy." And we have our own home-grown Bush-lite leader, Stephen Harper, who has publically "distanced himself" from the Committee's choice, and made his displeasure plain.

Mr. Harper will, of course, have to face the electorate soon and account for his unhappy record in office - including his jettisoning of Canada's international role as a peacekeeper and signing on instead as a powder-monkey for President's Bush's failed Middle East policies, his reneging on Canada's obligations under Kyoto, and for quisling obeisance to international corporate greed in ways too numerous to enumerate. Having a minor hissy-fit over Dr. Morgentaler will not save him. He is, I am happy to say, on the wrong side of history.

Until he is removed from office, a hearty "three cheers for Canada" must be muffled by our current minority government, which stays in power only because Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition cannot overcome internal disputes and take the man and his government down. One day, however, one day ...

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How did the proponents of state enforced child bearing ever get to call themselves "right to lifers". They have shown themselves to be capable of bombings, assasinations amd other forms of terrorism just like the religious fanatics who flew the planes onto the World Trade Centre,
Dr. Morgenthaler was able to change Canadian law because no jury would convict him. Dickens once said. "if the law says that tnen the law is an ass". 12 good citizens chosen at random from the population of the province of Quebec agreed with Dickens more than once; The legal, religious and political establishment had to give up.

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The coat hanger brigade has already begun to threaten to leave the country if this award is given.Good riddance!People either don't remember what it was like before this lone man had the courage to go to prison for his belief that women had the right to control over their own bodies,or they never saw the results of the butchery that often occurred.There are no good choices here,just choices.That's how it should be.

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"a hero to humanity who has helped save lives"

I just don't see how you can say this doctor saves lives when he has repeatedly and purposefully ended so many innocent lives. Seems we are so quick to focus on just the mother's life. But what about the other life in the equation?

Hear me out.

Who among you would condone the ending of the life of a young smiling child of say 3 years old? How about a 2 or 1 year old? How about 6 months or 6 days old? Okay to snuff out his or her life then? How about just a few minutes old? Just put a soft pillow over its face and it won't feel a thing--probably won't even put up much of a fight.

Okay, then does anyone really agree that it is acceptable to terminate a pregnancy at 38 weeks or so? How about 37 weeks? How about 36 or 35? Keep working backward. You know, at about 20 weeks or so you can hear a heartbeat and feel it kick. Okay then? How about 19 or 15 or 10 weeks? At just what point in the life of the fetus does it seem acceptable to rip its arms and legs off and toss what's left in the medical waste bin?

But, isn't that what Dr. Morgentaler does? At some point in the development of the fetus (BTW best not call it a baby because then what you do to it really sounds heinous) he yanks that little boy or girl out of Mommy's supposedly safe womb and steps on him.

Is this what doctors are supposed to do? Now I know it's old, but go read the Hippocratic Oath that has been around since the fourth century B.C. Its tenets have stood the test of time for almost 2,500 years -- including the one: I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. So what changed: centuries of ethics or our "modern" society?

I found a definition of hero: a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

I'm not sure Dr. Morgentaler deserves such a title. Distinguished (not hardly). Courage (c'mon he uses a little vacuum to suck up the body parts of defenseless soul-filled blobs of tissue). Ability (I suppose there's a knack to do what he does). Admired (perhaps by some in a sick and demented way). Brave (see courage). Noble (hardly a king, though he will some day have to answer to a King).

So, of all the heroes upon whom the Order of Canada could be bestowed, Dr. Morgentaler is, because of his despicable actions, one of the least worthy.

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We are all free choice.
The question is, do you want government choice or individual choice.

Personally, I trust our mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, friends to make their own decisions.

Reframe the debate. Ask your colleagues:
Individual choice or government choice?

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