His disregard for the law was lauded
by some as courage, while for others it seemed more obviously
a shrewd calculation of the lie of the land, the way the wind
was blowing through that part of the power elite who were impatient
to endorse a disregard for the unborn child far beyond anything
for which they could obtain a democratic mandate. That elite protected
him and admired the transgressions which could soften the ground
for their own legislative agenda. After his Supreme Court conviction,
then-Justice Minister Ron Basford ordered a retrial to obtain
the preferred result.
One does not have to doubt his motivation to note that the abortion
procedure was easy and lucrative for Morgentaler. On one occasion
he was arrested after doing 6 abortions between 10 am and noon.
For the years 1969 to 1972, a court calculated he had evaded $354,799
in taxes.
Morgentaler’s medical competence had come into question
more than once. In 1974 the Montreal Gazette reported that he
had been reusing cheap throw-away instruments which were not possible
to safely sterilize. In removing his license to practice in 1976,
a medical review panel censured him for “not holding a valid
interview before an abortion, for failing almost completely to
gather a case history of his client, for failing to perform the
necessary pregnancy test or blood test, for not obtaining pathological
examination of the "tissues" removed and for failing
to follow up the state of health of his patients afterward.”
Morgentaler’s insight into, or perhaps state of denial about,
his life’s work is illuminated by this relatively recent
conversation between him and prolife activist Peter Ryan in the
counselling room of the Fredricton abortion clinic:
"Why do you call it a baby? It's not a baby when there's
an abortion. There's no real baby." [Morgentaler] then lectured
Ryan briefly, claiming that the preborn child is "just a
bunch of cells."
Ryan pulled out from his pocket a plastic model of a 12-week-old
pre-born child.
"So you're saying that at this stage, it would not be a baby?"
said Ryan.
"Oh no, that there looks like a baby," Morgentaler replied.
Surprised at the response, Ryan pressed further. "You realize
that this is of 11 or 12 weeks' gestation?"
Incredulous at the claim, Morgentaler took the model from Ryan's
hand. "No," he said. "Give me that."
Morgentaler eyed the model for a moment and turned it over in
his hand, before handing it back to Ryan without saying anything
further...”
- reference :
http://www.theinterim.com/2002/dec/01prolife.html
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