Paul Tuns:
On July 14, Angela Costigan died at the age of 83. Costigan, originally a high school teacher, left that profession at the age of 33 to attend law school, and after she became a lawyer took on numerous cases in pursuit of obtaining legal rights for the unborn child, leading Jakki Jeffs, director of Alliance for Life Ontario, to call her a “pro-life hero.”
Among the cases that Costigan was involved in were Tremblay v. Daigle (1989), Dodd v. Murphy (1989), R. v. Sullivan (1991), and Winnipeg Child and Family Services (Northwest Area) v. G. (D.F.) in 1997.
In Tremblay, Costigan represented REAL Women as an intervenor in a case in which a male partner tried to obtain an injunction to prevent a woman from having an abortion arguing that the preborn child possessed the legal right to life. In Dodd, Costigan represented Greg Murphy, a pro-life activist and partner of Barbara Dodd, seeking an injunction to prevent Dodd from getting an abortion. Costigan was successful in obtaining a temporary injunction although that decision was overturned by the Ontario Court of Appeal. On behalf of her client, Costigan requested that the remains of the aborted preborn baby be handed over to Murphy for a proper burial but the Court also denied that request.
In R. vs Sullivan, Costigan again represented REAL Women as an intervenor at the Supreme Court of Canada. The case involved criminal negligence charges related to the death of a child during a home birth and Costigan argued that the child had legal personhood. In Winnipeg Child and Family Services, Costigan represented Alliance for Life in the Supreme Court, arguing that the Child and Family Services could order the detention of a pregnant woman in order to protect the preborn child from substance abuse.
Jeffs said Costigan, “spoke powerfully, but gently and fought like a warrior for the legal recognition of the ‘right to Life’ of the tiniest human beings.”
Costigan also represented pro-life activists arrested outside the Morgentaler abortuary in Toronto, leading Grace Petrasek, in Sillhouettes in the Snow: Profiles of Canadian Defenders of Life, to say she was “well named.” Petrasek wrote, “She’s an angel to the preborn child and to the pro-life movement.”
Costigan told Petrasek “I’m privileged to be a spokesperson for the preborn child,” even though the cases were often contentious and with little remuneration.
Gwen Landolt, vice president of REAL Women, told Campaign Life Coalition that Costigan was “was devoted to her faith, her family and to the law,” who “gave of herself and her legal expertise in pursuit of protecting the unborn child.”
Phil Horgan, president of the Catholic Civil Rights League, called Costigan a “role model to me,” and “one of a few lawyers who fought in the areas of pro-life advocacy.”
Costigan’s obituary said she died “peacefully” in hospital “surrounded by her family, listening to Ave Maria.”
Costigan’s obituary noted, “Of all her accomplishments, the one she was most proud of was her role as mother.” She is survived by three children, Tim, Mark, and Shannon, and six grandchildren.
