The Order of Canada, the highest civilian honour, was established to recognize outstanding lifetime achievement and service. Please sign this petition to the Advisory Council of the Order of Canada, which has repeatedly overlooked Dr. Morgentaler for this distinguished award.
I believe Dr. Henry Morgentaler deserves to be inducted into the Order of Canada.
Dr. Morgentaler exemplifies the ideals and principles of the Order of Canada with his lifetime commitment to women’s reproductive freedom.
Dr. Morgentaler, a survivor of the Holocaust, has made a positive lasting impact on the lives and health of Canadian women for more than 40 years as a physician and advocate. He came forward publicly in 1967 and testified that women should have access to safe and legal abortion care at a time when abortion was illegal and countless women were sacrificing their lives and health to end an unplanned pregnancy. For his beliefs and actions to ensure safe abortion care, he was imprisoned. In 1988, Dr. Morgentaler won a significant victory for Canadian women in the Supreme Court of Canada in R v. Morgentaler, the ruling that decriminalized abortion in Canada. This landmark decision, that changed the legal landscape in Canada, was named one of the most important and influential Charter cases of the last 25 years.
Dr. Morgentaler’s determination and tireless efforts on behalf of women have never ceased. Now in his eighties, he continues to provide leadership in current struggles to ensure that women have access to funded abortion care.
He has received several awards in his lifetime, but Canada’s highest award has never been bestowed upon him. This is a significant omission.
Sign the petition:
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