Many of the arguments in favor of “liberalizing the law,” as it came to be called, centre precisely on this idea of ridding the country of an “outmoded morality,” an expression which became standard in newspaper editorials and articles. It was claimed that opposition to legal contraceptives, divorce, homosexual activity, and abortion was based either on religious foibles [...]
Over the last two years, more and more people have begun to publicly express their opposition to pornography business. Formerly, only the churches seemed willing to take a firm stand in public. Today, radical feminists (looking at it exclusively from a woman’s point of view) have advanced at least to the recognition that violent pornography is a menace. With the [...]
A constant cry of our pluralistic and secular society is that morality is not to be legislated. Indeed in 1969, then Justice Minister, John Turner, claimed that the Criminal Code of Canada is neutral and cannot represent ‘private moralities.’(Speaking on the abortion bill in the House of Commons.) An unexpected subsidiary theme of this is-called neutrality [...]
In North Bay, community reaction to Morgentaler’s acquittal was instant and it was strong --- 3,800 people strong. In November, after the jury in Toronto acquitted Morgentaler of conspiring to procure an abortion, the local Right to Life group in North Bay took out a small advertisement in the North Bay Nugget which included a short list of pro-lifers [...]
Dr. Leslie Smoling, a former associate of Henry Morgentaler, was denied hospital privileges at Woodstock General Hospital for the second time. Smoling’s assistant, Christina Muench, said the doctor first applied to credentials to practice at the hospital shortly after he started his practice in Woodstock last July. He was refused hospital privileges then because his case in [...]
On Wednesday evening, January 15, Henry Morgentaler left Toronto for a whirlwind tour of Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg. The day before, Tuesday January 14, Toronto pro-life strategists called for an “extra show of strength” at the Toronto abortuary --- with the result that, at one point, in the early afternoon, close to 300 pro-life protesters crowded the sidewalks at [...]
AH In a jury trial concerned with the spreading of false news about the killing of Jews during World War II, the defense sought to keep Jews and Freemasons off the jury. Defense lawyer Douglas Christie of Vancouver, B.C., had proposed to question potential jurors to see whether they had an “open mind “about the Jewish holocaust. Consequently, he [...]
In 1974, Alphonse de Valk, the author of Mortality and Law in Canadian Politics: The Abortion Controversy, stated that "the new principles implied in the legislation of abortions will have a whole train of consequences, conscious and subconscious, foreseen and unforeseen, political and philosophical, personal and social. Together, these consequences will profoundly affect society and affect it not for the better, but [...]
On December 4, 1984, Attorney-General Roy McMurtry announced that the Crown would appeal the jury's November 8th decision to acquit Morgentaler and his two medical associates, Robert Scott and Leslie Smoling. In a 17-page statement read to the Ontario Legislature, McMurtry explained that, "the case raises fundamental issues about the jury in our system of criminal justice." The "legal advice I received [...]
The Morgentaler acquittal of Thursday, November 8, 1984, had its reverberations on the "hill." Right-to-abortion supporters were quick to move, even though the Minister of Justice (Hon. John Crosbie, St. John's West) had stated already that he did not foresee any changes because "there is no social consensus." (Toronto Star, Nov. 9). The following statements are taken from Hansard. Addressing herself to [...]
Ontario's Attorney-General Roy McMurty addressed the Ontario Legislature on Tuesday, December 4, explaining his reason for appeal. The following are the relevant extracts from his address. After explaining that the decision to appeal was made on strictly legal grounds, the Attorney General stated the following: "The conduct of this case raises fundamental issues about the role of the jury in our system [...]
The recent published report of a working party of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) calls for: - full and free access to all methods of fertility regulation, including abortion and sterilization for all, irrespective of age or marital status, as a “human right”; - the right of children to contraception and abortion from the age [...]
In shock and dismay I heard the announcement on the radio on that Thursday morning: “Not guilty – acquitted.” First: Unbelief “God, how can this happen? How did you let it happen? We prayed so much and were so sure You heard us.” I personally was very hopeful as I left the courtroom the day before! There was also [...]
On Monday, November 19, Dorval City Council approved a zoning bylaw that would banish massage parlours, strip joints, erotica shops, tanning studios and abortion clinics to an industrial part of town. The businesses would be relegated to a district now used mostly by trucking firms. The draft bylaw “depicts the moral pasture of the community,” said Dorval Mayor, Peter [...]
In the last week of November, Ontario pro-life groups from across the province met in Toronto to discuss the Mongentaler acquittal and action that should be taken to close the abortuary. Several possible actions were discussed and it was agreed by all that the abortuary must be closed. Leaders of the following Ontario pro-life groups were in attendance: [...]