THE AWARDING OF THE ORDER OF CANADA TO MR. HENRY MORGENTALER

Henry Morgentaler awarded the Order of Canada
A decision that must be revoked

The Catholic Organization for Life and Family would like to express its dismay at the sudden decision of the Order of Canada Advisory Council to award the Order of Canada to Dr. Henry Morgentaler.

The Order of Canada website describes the award as “the centerpiece of Canada’s honours system” which “recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation”.

Dr. Morgentaler, a survivor of Dachau and Auschwitz concentration camps where he fought for his own survival, has reportedly estimated that he has performed more than 100,000 abortions (www.nationalreviewofmedicine.com/issue/interview/2008/5_interview_01.html). In 1988, a Supreme Court decision that bears his name removed all legal barriers to abortion at any stage of pregnancy – since then, nearly two million future citizens have lost their lives to abortion. Is that the outstanding achievement that has been a service to this nation?

Canada has its heroes, and they deserve to be recognized; however, it is neither heroic nor admirable to cause the death of unborn children, the most vulnerable of all Canadians. COLF therefore urges the Harper Government to take the necessary action to ensure that the decision to award the Order of Canada to Dr. Morgentaler be revoked.

The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) is co-sponsored by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus.


For more information:

Michèle Boulva
Director
Catholic Organization for Life and Family
Tel.: 613-241-9461, ext. 141
E-mail: mboulva@colf.ca

Below is the Press Release from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

COMMENTARY FROM THE CANADIAN CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS ON THE AWARDING OF THE ORDER OF CANADA TO MR. HENRY MORGENTALER



The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is dismayed by the upcoming appointment of Mr. Henry Morgentaler to the Order of Canada. We believe that linking this award to a procedure as harmful as abortion constitutes a serious error which undermines the significance of the Order of Canada.

On the Governor General’s website, it is written that “The Order of Canada’s motto is DESIDERANTES MELIOREM PATRIAM (They desire a better country)”. Far from improving our country, Mr. Morgentaler’s actions continue to create controversy and division in our nation. In the name of freedom of choice, he has encouraged the development of a culture of death and has thus attacked the most vulnerable, the unborn.

Awarding such a decoration in this context discredits the Order of Canada. It amounts to an inadmissible affront to the numerous Canadians who dedicate their lives to the protection of the most vulnerable, especially the unborn.

We ask the appropriate authorities to reconsider this nomination and not to award this distinction to Mr. Morgentaler.