Henry Morgentaler’s Halifax abortuary usually does abortions every two weeks. But when the new year arrived, it was closed because of staffing problems.

CBC reported that the nurse administrator had left. No reason was given, other than a suggestion that it was hard to keep nurses in a non-profit environment. Tom Jardim, who pickets regularly at the clinic, said, “I was hoping that this was partly due to our efforts.”

Morgentaler told CBC Radio the abortuary has two nurses now and needs one more. After referring to the widespread shortage of nurses, he said, “We have advertised for nurses but they find it difficult to take the day off (from their regular work).”

“I wonder how they advertise for this position and how they describe the job requirements. Do they mention piecing together the body parts of the aborted babies?” asked another picketer, Ellen Chesal, who is also office secretary for Campaign Life Coalition Nova Scotia. Pro-lifer Linda Rankin suggested that with the shortage in the province, nurses might choose a more life-serving position.

The CBC interviewer asked Morgentaler if the staffing difficulty was because of a wage difference between he paid and what a hospital would pay. The abortionist replied, “No. I have a habit of paying very good salaries … The nurses who come to our clinic are pretty devoted to providing this service to women. ”

Another pro-life activist, Cynthia Clarke, said, “They would have to be far more committed to the pro-abortion cause than to nursing, in order to apply, I would think.”

“Maybe they will have a difficult time filling that job,” said Rankin. “Let’s hope they stay short-staffed!” added Clarke. “Hopefully this heinous position will be permanently vacant,” said the CLC Nova Scotia newsletter.

Never shy about self-promotion, Morgentaler told CBC, “We are competing (sic) with the big hospital and it so happens that the hospital has improved very much its services. They have the doctor that I trained, they improved their methods and their ways of providing abortions in a better atmosphere than they used to do. They have counselling. Basically, they took over some of the methods which I have introduced into abortion practice in Canada many years ago and they are providing a pretty good service now.

“But,” he declared, “I’m determined to have this clinic provide the best possible services ever, like all the other clinics that I run, and if we need to, we’ll bring in nurses from New Brunswick or Montreal or Toronto.”

After ranting about a caller who said he was tired of having pro-choice values rammed down his throat, Morgentaler returned to one of his favorite topics: a listing of his own efforts to force Canadian provinces to swallow his values.

“I’ve initiated legal action against the government of Nova Scotia and the government of New Brunswick. There’s a class action suit going on against the government of Quebec, another class class action suit going on against the government of Manitoba, and I intend to sue the government of Manitoba now for refusal to provide abortions under medicare.”

In tones of righteous indignation, he added these governments “give a bad example to the citizens and the youth of their provinces.”