When the Morgentaler, Scott and Smoling hearing on the pre-trial motion to quash the abortion charges against them began on November 21, 1983, the opinion was that the hearing would last a minimum of two weeks to a maximum of three weeks.

The fact that it stretched out to four weeks, until December 16, made me realize that matters did indeed move very slowly in a court of law.  Being admonished by the head matron, Pamela Knight, to “preserve the decorum of this high court,” we, as courtroom spectators, had ample opportunity to give silent witness to our unborn Canadians threatened by abortion.

Well-rehearsed witnesses

As witness after witness, called forth by Morris Manning, defence counsel, revealed themselves as abortionists, abortion advocates and abortion activists, it became increasingly difficult to listen to this kind of “evidence” as the hours went by.  It struck me how very carefully Manning had instructed and rehearsed his pro-abortion witnesses.  They had their tales of woe and horror stories to impart and feed into the court records.

It was especially chilling to hear the evidence of female abortionists, such as Dr. Jane Hodgson who is the director of five abortion mills in the United States.  The federal crown attorney, Arthur Pennington, asked her about fetal development at eight weeks and Dr. Hodgson stated that she did not like this question because she found it distasteful.

Manning asked Judge Parker to rule on the relevance of this line of questioning.  Judge Parker ruled that she would have to respond to these questions about fetal development.  Therefore, Dr. Hodgson gave answers such as “I don’t disagree” or “I really have to review my embryology.”  When Crown Attorney Alan Cooper asked her what happened to the fetal remains after abortion, she replied, after a pause, that she did not know.

Mr. Cooper expressed surprised that she, as director of five abortion “clinics,” did not know.  Dr. Hodgson replied, “Each clinic has its own manes of garbage disposal.”

Morality left far behind

Dr. Philip Stubblefield, abortion specialist trained by Dr. Jane Hodgson, has left morality far behind.  His attitude seemed to be that what is legal is legal, so let us get on with the job of perfecting and practicing the most efficient methods of abortion.

He freely admitted to abortion complications, “just as there are complications in other medical procedures,” and he quite matter-of-factly compared one abortion method as being superior to another – as if he were comparing different methods of chopping wood.

We were relieved when this parade of nineteen pro-abortion witnesses finally came to a halt on December 16.

The Christmas break over, on January 19, Morris Manning began his oral summation to his constitutional challenge of the abortion section (S.251) of the Criminal Code.  In his oral summation, which went on for eighteen days, Manning ranged so far and wide of his written Statement of Fact that Pennington complained to Judge Parker that Manning had gone beyond what he had outlined in his Statement of Fact.

Manning sounded convincing

Manning referred to and read at length from court decision of dozens and dozens of Canadian and American cases, trying to add legal weight to the arguments that he was putting forth.  At one point, he spent more than one day on the argument that the abortion section of the Criminal Code violates the guarantee against cruel and unusual treatment or punishment under Section 12 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, because the abortion section causes delays for women through the requirement of abortion committee approval and the chance of increased medical complications as the woman’s pregnancy advances.

Manning’s various arguments sounded so convincing to the ears of one unenlightened reporter that he actually believed that abortions are next to impossible to get in Canada.  In a conversation outside the courtroom, the reporter was rather taken aback when we informed him that well over 65,000 abortions are done yearly in Canada.

Embryology facts ignored

It was fascinating to see how Manning skated around the reality of individual life in the womb.  He was very quick to agree with the 1973 American Roe v Wade decision that declared that, if those trained in medicine, philosophy and theology are unable to arrive at a consensus as to when life begins, then “the judiciary is not in a position to speculate as to the answer.”

What manning deliberately refuses to address is the fact that arguments centering on words such as “quickening” or those dividing pregnancy into arbitrary time-divisions are obsolete and invalid, given the current knowledge about intrauterine life and the advanced state of modern technology and medical techniques used in the treatment of unborn patients.  Because it does not enhance his legal arguments for promoting abortion as a women’s “right,” Manning simply dismisses, as a matter of little importance or concern, the existence of human life in the womb.

Criminal trial date uncertain

It seems doubtful that Manning can win this motion to quash the charge against his clients of conspiring to procure a miscarriage.  The whole pre-trial motion hearing, with its lengthy oral summation involving the decisions of judges in cases which seem obscure and irrelevant even to a layperson, suggests to me that Manning must have started preparing his arguments a long time ago.

He sees this case as the largest and most complex constitutional argument that he has ever had been involved in.  Will his next step be to write a book about his experiences?

Judge Parker has postponed Federal Crown Attorney Pennington’s oral summation date until March 20.  This obviously cancels the March 19 court date that has been reserved for the Morgentaler et al criminal trial.  However, after Mr. Pennington completes his oral summation (and, probably, Crown Attorney Cooper completes his) and Manning has had his chances to refute, Judge Parker may wait for some time and then announce a new court date for the criminal trial.

Patricia Loughran is president of the Mississauga Right to Life Association.  She has been in the courtroom for almost every day of this trial.