Journal tomhudson's Journal: Abortionist to receive Order of Canada 39
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jHGcuD5hlHNat1KxWXY1uT8nkXLA
Henry Morgentaler's naming to Order of Canada met with controversy
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.
... 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.
Many Canadians? Not really. As a post-christian nation, we don't really care what the various churches have to say about anything. And abortion isn't "implicitly endorsed" - it's explicitly endorsed as a right, and this because of Morgentaler. McGarry needs to get some new reading glasses - her old ones only show news from 30 years ago.
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."
Makes sense
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.
Like I said, it's explicitly endorsed. It's the law. You're free not to have an abortion if you don't want one - just don't try to force others to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term because of *your* religious beliefs.
Your quote: (Score:2)
As a post-christian nation
How do we get some of that down here?
Re: (Score:2)
surprise - it's already started to happen. Look at the backlash [yahoo.com] against Dobson (Focus on the Family) when he went after Obama [time.com].
The US is where Canada was 20 years ago - no longer willing to give mindless lip service, but still not used to the new reality. 10 years from now, the "religious right" will be pretty much dead in the US as well, because once the rot really sets in, it just feeds on itself.
It's about time there was REAL separation of church and state in the US.
Re: (Score:2)
It's the separation of church and culture that will IMO, exacerbate the rot to which you point.
However, one can be fairly confident that the finger will point in any direction but internally, where reflection could lead to renewal.
Got problems? Your new god arrives in a convenient package: http://www.havidol.com/ [havidol.com]
Oh, how the brave new world excels that tired old useless thing. Woo hoo!
Re: (Score:2)
Morality can exist without Religion.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
An argument could be made that true morality can only exist outside of religion. After all, if you're only doing something because you fear punishment/seek reward/seek approval/want to go to heaven/fear hell/want your 72 virgins/are blindly obeying, you're not exercising moral judgment, you're acting out of self-interest.
I wonder how appealing "the gospel" would be if it said "people will despise you, curse you in my name, and then you'll die. End of story." Or how ma
Re: (Score:1)
Your new messiah is Obama, your new priests the media. Abortion and Gay Marriage are your new sacraments, abominations to your former God that will be placed at the new altar of Global Warming.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I've still got my +3 Godslayer Bow and a +5 Quiver of Plenty (godslaying arrows).
There is NOTHING in Gehenna I cannot handle :)
Re: (Score:2)
Forget the half measures: make it the National Anthem.
That whole honesty thing: terrifying to some, refreshing to others.
Re: (Score:2)
Actually I've considered plunking down some money with a mint or metalworks to have them cast me some silver bullets in various calibers, :) Just in case.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Anyone living in Tel Aviv probably should be, considering Obama wanting to "negotiate" with a madman who has promised to wipe Israel off the map.
Re: (Score:2)
As far as I could tell, Lord Arthur Balfour's joint declaration with one Lord Rothschild was an attempt to help british colonialism survive... and survive it did. Ye gods have they maintained power! Given that Arthur Balfour was also a devoted member of the Fabian Socialists, one would have to draw strong conclusions about love of state and love of all powerful state apparatus. As far as I can tell, the Fabians, have accomplished what Cecil Rhodes desired, far beyond their wildest dreams. An entire popu
Re: (Score:2)
So, what are you? Pissy? Bitchy? You're definitely up in some kind of lather from your language.
Maybe this'll help: Bush has fucked up so badly in the last 8 years, a drooling sloth with a nifty line in anarchist quotes would look appealing to the American electorate right now, so throwing around words like "messiah" and calling Gay marriage a "sacrament" just makes you look stupid.
a
Re: (Score:2)
Naw, even if you don't agree with Obama politically you should work to make sure he gets elected. The entertainment value of all those heads exploding will be worth it.
I guess some don't like uppity black people.
Re: (Score:2)
I have nothing against "uppity black people". Some of my good friends are "uppity black people". I do have a problem with uppity far left liberals. And, being a resident of Senator Obama's home state I am VERY familiar with said ultra-liberals.
Re: (Score:2)
"Some of my good friends are black!"
Yea, sure, that is what they all say.
uppity far left liberals
Oh, come on, say what you really mean. Marxist, Manchurian candidate, Islamic fifth-columnist, etc.
Of course the tilt has been so far to the right than anyone to the left of Attila the Hun is considered a "wimpy liberal".
Re: (Score:2)
"Some of my good friends are black!"
Yea, sure, that is what they all say.
Wow, you're very imaginative in your false assumptions. But, I know who my friends are...
As to Senator Obama's political leanings, I do not think he's a communist or anything that outrageous. But he is a Socialist disguised as a Democrat. And, that political belief set reaches too far into my pocket for the benefit of those who feel entitled to the fruits of my family's and my labors.
It's not my fault there are people out there unwilling to better themselves. Being lazy and blaming your situation instea
Re: (Score:2)
As to Senator Obama's political leanings, I do not think he's a communist or anything that outrageous. But he is a Socialist disguised as a Democrat. And, that political belief set reaches too far into my pocket for the benefit of those who feel entitled to the fruits of my family's and my labors.
It's not my fault there are people out there unwilling to better themselves. Being lazy and blaming your situation instead of yourself for your lack of affluence is not justification to take what you want from people who are benefiting from their own efforts. Just because you, as a voting block, outnumber the successful does not give you the right to take the easy way out and mandate those successful people support you.
Whoa, where the fuck do you get that? Socialist disguised as a Democrat? I only wish. Obama is solidly center to center-left just like any other serious Democratic candidate for president in the last 20 or so years.
But then again it would seem a lot of people think any government spending and/or taxes are "socialism" unless it involves corporate welfare or some particular piece of locally-favored pork.
Re: (Score:1)
Media backlash against a guy who DARED insult their anointed candidate? That's unpossible.
The only people who got their panties in a wad about Dobson attacking Obama were already moonbats so far in the tank for Obama they're petitioning to change their middle names to 'Hussein'.
The fascism coming from the left with regards to Obama is terrifying.
Re: (Score:1)
This statement doesn't actually mean anything since fascism can't "come from" something (fascism is a political structure that must be actively created since it needs intentional targets for ire and for a convergence of information to a central leader or party, it does not just occur naturally), but I assume what you mean is this:
Re: (Score:2)
I for one welcome our journal-happy left-wing fascist overlords :-)
Besides, after all the fascist crap from the right, the left is entitled to a little slack ...
It's sad, really. (Score:1)
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.
The man is a contradiction in terms. How can one work so hard to make killing a human being legal and yet be considered a humanitarian? Who's next-- Adolf Hitler? (Probably not, since he was Austrian, not Canadian. Someone might suggest granting a posthumous honorary citizenship, if it meant granting accolades, though.)
I argue that life begins at conception, regardless of one's religious beliefs. Everything the cells need to be complete are there after the egg and sperm unite, only in a very premature
Re: (Score:2)
Rant time (goodie!)
Quebec's "catholics" are anything but, nowadays. They support gay marriage, they think the ban on priests getting married is stupid and leads to scandals, and they have wholeheartedly embraced the pill for a generation ... just look at th
Re: (Score:1)
Then your argument is fatally flawed. What makes a person a person is a functioning brain, not cells. The whole "life begins at conception" argument is just bullshit, a throwback to the days when people believed sperm and eggs were complete little human beings, just infintismally smaller. A clump of cells is NOT a person. There's "nobody home" - no brain - no container for the essence of what makes us "homo sapiens." There's a big difference between a potential person, and a person.
Sperm and eggs, by themselves, aren't enough. Together, they provide all the genetic information necessary for what makes a human, complete with the ability to develop. (The development bit is what distinguishes it from "just a clump of cells". A clump of cells is not a person in its own right, because it's not capable of being anything more than that. A developing baby (a "potential person" in your view?) actually can grow and become more. That, with the genetic makeup, is what makes it human, and (in
Re: (Score:2)
Up here everyone belongs to at least one minority group. Which minority were you referring to?
Some things we are passionate about:
Re: (Score:1)
Our not having George W. Bush as a president - twice! (okay, so he wasn't really elected ... that makes it better how?)
Sigh. Bush WAS elected, both times. Get over it. If you don't like it, too darned bad. Quit complaining about a process (the Electoral College) that you obviously don't understand.
If Canadians honestly believe that he is in office illegally, why haven't they done anything about it? Oh, right. They'd get their collective arse handed to them on a platter. Us Yanks are a bit stubborn in our pride of our country, just like you are about yours. Our systems work for us (most of the time), and when they do
Re: (Score:2)
Why? There's more Americans who think Bush cheated to get elected than Canadians. If your own people can't be arsed to do something about it, why should we?
Really ... so when did you repeal Gram-Rudman (balanced budget act)? Because obviously your budget deficit is out of control ... and you *haven't* done anything to
Re: (Score:1)
BTW - you're wrong about immigration rates. The US immigration rate is 3.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.), Canada's is 5.79 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
How about a raw tally of migrants from the same year, so we can make it an honest comparison? Politics affect a great many things, including migration. (On top of that, I don't think migrants per capita ratios mean squat in immigration discussions.)
Also, there was an article in today's dead-tree Montreal Gazette about how Canada is experiencing a net influx (more Americans relocating to Canada than Canadians relocating to the US) because of better overall economic conditions (because of universal health care, etc., we reached net "purchasing power parity" when the Canadian dollar was $0.82 US).
In all honesty, I think the "health care" reason for migration is not as big a deal as you think it is. More people moving to the Great White North are doing so for political reasons. (Unfortunately, Alec Baldwin hasn't kept his word to do just that.) More o
Re: (Score:2)
We're stuck with what I found, unless you can find better ... I dodn't "cherry-pick" t
Re: (Score:2)
Besides, don't xians believe that abortions go to heaven?
Nope, unfortunately not. Not baptised, not forgiven and most important to the reasoning; not free from original sin. In the Lutheran and Calvinist traditions a soul is created when an embryo is created. That soul is damned until it is "saved". So, the souls of the aborted go to hell.
I'm not sure how the Roman Catholics and the Orthodox faiths roll on this issue though. I grew up in an American branch of the Dutch Reformed church and later attended Presbyterian services to pick up some Scottish influenc
Re: (Score:2)
So get 'em saved and make sure they stay saved by killing 'em :-)
There's the thing, though - what sort of justice is there for blaming anyone for "original sin". To impute guilt on someone because of the actions of someone else isn't just - it's the denial of justice. So much for a perfect god. Even I have a better sense of justice, and more mercy.
The whole concept of xianity is just a mish-mash of the religions that went before it. As such, it's no better than any other superstition.
and this is why... (Score:1)
...I think Canadians are insane. Sadly, half of my ancestry is Canadian. Shame, really. I told you this guy was nuts.
Re: (Score:2)
Why, because we refuse, as a nation, to pass legislation that enshrines a religious minority's beliefs that they have the right to tell everyone how to live, into law?
You have the right to believe that a fertilized egg is a person. You *don't* have the right to impose that crazy, destructive belief on anyone else.
A fertilized egg is no more a person than an arm or a leg, or a toe-nail clipping.
We don't do crap like the Terry Schiavo thing. We found it disgusting - not just the situation, but the way
Re: (Score:1)
My, my, aren't we sensitive! You spout lots of absolutes without a whole lot of ground to stand on. Of course a duly elected government has the right to tell people how to live, if the way they desire to live infringes upon the rights of others.
If a fertilized egg is no more a person than an arm or a toe- nail clipping, why will a fertilized egg develop into a baby, when an arm or a toe-nail clipping will not?
Apparently, you and a whole lot of people you know did not pay close attention to the Schiavo dis
Re: (Score:2)
The fact of the matter is in your own words - it has to DEVELOP into a baby. It isn't one at conception. It's just a bunch of cells that are totally undifferentiated. You ever seen one up close and fresh at 8 weeks? It looks like a clot of blood.
Re: (Score:1)
You are just plain sick.
And for the record, I do every legal thing available to me to "make having a kid more attractive than an abortion". You see, my mother chose to abort my baby brother-- because she didn't know for sure that her husband (my father) was the baby's father. I had no "choice" in that matter. Not one day goes by that I do not feel that empty spot in my life. And you know what else? It didn't make my mother's life any better either. She exercised her "choice" and cries just about eve
Re: (Score:2)
Like what? Have you worked to get a politician elected who will do the things I listed that would make having a kid more attractive than an abortion? Have you lobbied for free access to obstetricians, hospitals, midwives? Or subsidized day-care for everyone, without a "means test"? Or for guarante
tomhudson (Score:2)
You need better trolls, these ones are boring and keep repeating themselves.