The Winnipeg Free Press of December 30, 1985 reported that the co-administrator of the Morgentaler Clinic in Winnipeg, Suzanne Newman, felt that Henry Morgentaler should take a back seat from now on because her boss generated so much bad publicity and angered so many Manitobans. Abortions have not been done at the Winnipeg abortuary since March 1985.
According to Newman, Morgentaler alienated the wrong people right from the beginning, such as refusing to comply with the bylaws of the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Newman, who has worked as a counselor and volunteer at the abortion clinic since 1983, thinks a Manitoba doctor may have a better chance.
The Globe and Mail of February 5, 1986 reported that the relationship between Morgentaler’s Toronto lawyer Morris Manning and Morgentaler’s labour and feminist supporters, is strained. Manning is presently representing several clients who are objecting to one or other aspect of union activity, such as closed-shop and first contract provisions. He has used the abortion-rights slogan “freedom of choice” at news conferences backing his clients’ desire to opt out.
Particularly angry are Morgentaler’s union supporters “who have stuck their neck out to support” him. The Ontario Federation of Labour, for example, has donated thousands of dollars to pro-abortion groups.
On February 7, the Globe came to the defence of Morris Manning, rebuking the Morgentaler supporters in an editorial. It happily quoted Morgentaler’s own statement … “I am not sure anyone should tell lawyers what kind of cases they take.”
