Henry Morgentaler’s trials by fire were in Auschwitz, then Canada

Sleep sometimes offers a flat no, however much you beg and bargain. At 2 in the morning, hours before Dr. Henry Morgentaler’s funeral last Sunday, I gave up on sleep and started reading a new memoir by Eva Schloss, a stepsister of Anne Frank. It’s a plain-spoken memoir about surviving the worst place ever invented by man.

It’s titled After Auschwitz. How do people get out of hell and live a normal life?

Harper, most Conservative MPs silent on Morgentaler’s death

The death of abortion crusader Dr. Henry Morgentaler has sparked debate about his legacy, but the Conservative government is not weighing in.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose office typically issues statements on deaths of notable Canadians and various other events, was silent on Morgentaler’s passing Tuesday.

Stories from the front lines of the abortion victory in Canada

Judy Rebick was the spokesperson for the Morgentaler Clinic when it first opened in Toronto and later a key spokesperson for the Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics.

 Monday, January 28 is the anniversary of the deepest and most important victory the women's movement in Canada has ever had. After almost 20 years of struggle, beginning with the Abortion Caravan in 1970, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the abortion law in a landmark decision citing women's right to privacy -- in effect women's rights to control their own bodies.

When the judgment came down, I was standing with about 50 other supporters outside the Morgentaler Clinic on Harbord Street in downtown Toronto. Along with Dr. Henry Morgentaler, we had been battling Conservative governments at two levels, the cops and the anti-choice forces, including the Catholic Church, for eight years.