Canada Abortion Practitioner Gets Degree From University of Western Ontario Email this article
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by Maria Vitale Gallagher
LifeNews.com Staff Writer
March 18, 2005
Toronto, Canada (LifeNews.com) — An abortion practitioner is scheduled to receive an honorary degree from a Canadian university. The move has pro-life groups in the country up in arms.
Henry Morgentaler has been named to receive the University of Western Ontario’s highest honor at its spring convocation in June.
In a written statement, the university said it was conferring an honorary Doctor of Laws degree upon Morgentaler, “a humanist leader who has promoted the idea that people have a right to control their own sexuality and reproduction, without interference by the state.”
Morgentaler founded the first abortion center in Montreal in 1968. He currently operates six abortion facilities in Canada.
Pro-life groups condemned the UWO’s actions.
Henry Lamb, former vice-president of Campaign Life Coalition, told the London Free Press the decision was "unbelievable."
"He’s the last person I’d think would be on anybody’s list whether you’re pro-life or not," Lamb said.
"I have a real hard time with it because the (abortion) issue hasn’t even been properly debated in this country, and they want to make Henry Morgentaler a doctor of laws when there is no law," Lamb added.
Last year, Morgentaler made headlines by distributing a press statement saying the decline in Canada’s violent crime statistics since 1991 “confirms again my theory that access to abortion” is responsible for the favorable numbers.
However, a number of scholars contradict Morgentaler’s view, noting that child abuse has actually escalated since Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion.
Researchers Theresa Karminski Burke and David C. Reardon of the Elliot Institute, which studies the after-effects of abortion, have said, “Ignoring the obvious illogic of this argument–which suggests that killing children is better than beating them — there is not a single scientific study that supports this theory.”
Morgentaler has also consistently fought for taxpayer-funded abortions in Canada.
There are more than 100,000 abortions annually in Canada.
Those wishing to register their complaints with the university about Morgentaler’s honorary degree can write to the University of Western Ontario; 1151 Richmond Street; Suite 2; London; Ontario, Canada; N6A 5B8 or by calling 519-661-2111.