July 3
The U.S Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling in Webster vs. Missouri upholds important parts of a 1986 law in the State of Missouri, restricting access to abortion. It rules that states can prohibit public funding and the use of public facilities for abortions. It also directs that the states interest in protecting human life is not restricted only to a time when the unborn baby can live on its own. (For impact of ruling on Canada, see article elsewhere.)
July 4
Canada’s abortion debate is suddenly electrified when Ontario’s Supreme Court Judge John O’Driscoll grants an injunction preventing 22-year-old Barbra Dodd from having an abortion. Her boyfriend, Gregory Murphy, explains he sought the court order to protect the couple’s 15-week-old unborn baby.
Dodd has two children ages five and four, from a previous alliance, and has had two previous abortions.
July 5
In Cambridge, Ontario, District Supreme Court Judge Janet Scot issues an injunction forbidding picketing in front of the offices of Cambridge abortionists Norman Assad and Clifford Chan. She also prohibits protesters from employing the term: killing.” (see article “Cambridge decision, Assault on civil liberties widens” elsewhere in this issue.)
July 6
In Winnipeg Steve Diamond loses his bid to get a court order preventing his former girlfriend from having an abortion. Mr. Justice Aubrey Hirschfield, of the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench, declares that in his opinion the woman has absolute control over her body and the right to have an abortion.
July 7
The focus switches to Quebec. In the afternoon, Supreme Court Judge Jean Richard issues a temporary injunction to Jean-Guy Tremblay, 25, which forces ex-girlfriend Chantal Daigle, 21, and 18 weeks pregnant, to postpone her abortion. Tremblay says his move was prompted by the Murphy – Dodd case.
July 10
In Toronto, Dodd appeals her injunction to a higher court. The Quebec injunction hits the national media with full force for the first time.
July 11
Dodd wins her case. Mr. Justice Gibson Gray overturns injunction on technical grounds, leaving feminists both jubilant and unhappy. The 16-week-old unborn baby is killed by Henry Morgentaler “free of charge.”
July 17
Mr. Justice Jacques Viens of Quebec Superior Court rules that “a conceived child that is not yet bon is a human being under Article 1 of the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” He grants a permanent injunction preventing Daigle from getting an abortion. The decision shocks the feminists and the media. The injunction is appealed.
July 18
Barbara Dodd expresses regrets at having had the abortion and at a press conference says she was pressured by pro-abortion activists. This sets off a whole new furor fed up by press conferences and interviews.
July 20
The Five-judge Quebec Court of Appeal announces that it will delay its ruling. Prime Minister Mulroney, after a year of calculated silence, is forced to promise legislation. The pro-abortionists hope that Canada would carry on without a law seems to evaporate. Legislation, the PM now says, might not involve the Criminal Code. He also repeats the claim that no one has the right to impose his own personal view on someone else. (See “Politicians in July” elsewhere in this issue.)
July 26
Daigle loses her appeal. In a 3-2 decision, the Quebec Appeal Court upholds the injunction, ruling that her unborn baby is a human being with a right to life and that “pregnancy is not in itself… an interference in her body… The rule of nature is that pregnancy must lead to birth.”
July 27
Pro-abortionists demonstrate in the larger cities. The same scenes of young, unmarried women shouting slogans of hatred against law, religion and men on behalf of reproductive freedom repeat themselves. The coat hanger is carried as the symbol of oppression. (See “Note on Coat-hangers” elsewhere in this issue.)
August 8
Nine judges of the Supreme Court of Canada heard the Daigle case and discover the plaintiff has had her abortion already. They overturn the injunction anyway and promise to give their reasons sometime in the future.
