Background

The life of Henry Morgentaler (19 March 1923 to 29 May 2013),1 the Canadian doctor and abortion rights activist, has important lessons for the future of abortion law in the UK.

Canada is the only country in the developed or developing world where abortion is not a criminal offence (apart from the Australian states of Victoria and Australian Capital Territory).

Morgentaler was, and still is, a household name in Canada and, of all doctors in the world, is the one most closely linked with women's rights and self-determination to choose to end their pregnancy.

In the landmark case of R v Morgentaler 1988,2 the Supreme Court of Canada ruling declared that the law prohibiting abortion was unconstitutional in the context of the Canadian ‘Charter of Rights and Freedoms’. Abortion was decriminalised and, to this day, is no longer a criminal offence in Canada. The law neither condones nor condemns induced abortion. It remains for each province to decide on the availability and funding of induced abortion under the Canada Health Act.

Morgentaler's steadfast activism won many supporters but he was also vilified by his opponents; in 2008 he received Canada's highest civilian order, the Order of Canada. Morgentaler commented that he was proud to have realised his dream of a better and more human society. The citation was “For his commitment to increased health care options for women, his determined efforts to influence Canadian public policy and his leadership in humanist and civil liberties organisations”.

Morgentaler's early life

Henryk Morgentaler was born in Łódz´, Poland in 1923 to Josef and Golda Morgentaler. His father was active in the large Jewish community and the General Jewish Labour Bund. Under the German occupation, Morgentaler's father was killed by the Gestapo while Henryk lived with his mother and younger brother in the Łódz´ ghetto. …