( OTHER FEA TURE \ rHE OTHER PRESS

 

MARCH 9, 1983

Abortion: Borowski vs. |

Reprinted from The Manitoban by

Canadian University Press

The emotionally charged throng of 10,000 was no-
ticeably missing. There were no placard carrying
protesters crying ‘‘Babykiller’’; nor were there any
people praying in the aisles for souls of the damned.
-But the only insults being exchanged were between
former Manitoba cabinet minister Joe Borowski and
Dr. Henry Morgentaler, the first physician to open an
abortion clinic in Quebec. ;

The 1,500 strong present for the highly touted debate
between the two, was surprisingly reserved. Borowski
and Morgentaler faced off at the University of Man-
itoba in mid-January.

 

 

 

 

 

Not even a bomb threat and mass evacuation phased
them; most seemed more concerned with losing their
seats or getting cold, as they slowly filed out, rather
than being blown up.

Security for the event was tight. Many uniformed
and plain clothes police officers patrolled the crowd
and doorways prior, during and after the debate.
“What were they getting themselves into anyway?
‘Would they have come knowing that the building had
been closed off two hours prior to the debate and
searched for bombs?

During Morgentaler’s opening remarks a police of-
ficer moved towards the moderator, Dean of Law Jack
London, and murmured in his ear. London then
interrupted Morgentaler and asked the crowd to calm-
ly move to the doors. Although he aid not say, most
people guessed it must have been a bomb threat.

The police then swept the area, turning up nothing.
A group calling itself Christians Against Morgentaler
claimed responsibility for the threat.

“TI hope Mr. Borowski can control his supporters a

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statements, “‘We on the pro-choice side are non-
violent people.’’ It was not long before Morgentaler
regained his pace and outlined the pro-choice posi-
tion.

Dressed in a tailored grey pinstriped suit, he con-

fidently delivered the message he has fought for over .

the past two decades: The right for women to safe;
legal abortions if they choose. He has been tried three
times in the past for providing legal abortions in his
Montreal clinic. Although he was aquitted by a jury
on all three occasions, the Quebec court of Appeal
reversed the decision which was upheld by the Sup-
reme Court of Canada, and he spent 10 months in jail.
Only after former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker
introduced legislation into the House of Commons
making it impossible for an Appeals Court to reverse a
jury decision, Morgentaler was defeated. A fourth
trial by the Bourassa government was pending when
that government was ousted form office. The new
government in Quebec dropped all charges against
doctors performing abortions in that province. Mor-
gentaler’s clinic now receives provincial funding.
The NDP “‘ position is that it is in favour of freedom
of choice-this party is now in power in Manitoba,”’
said Morgentaler. He said this is why he wants to
open a clinic here. According to Morgentaler, the
Attorney-General of any province can refuse to pros-
ecute if he or she feels a conviction cannot be obtain-
ed. “‘I will offer this clinic to a women’s group or the
government (to operate) after a certain time,”’ said
Morgentaler. “‘Until such time, it will have to be a
private clinic.’’

He said the cost of an abortion at his clinic is 1250,
but is income adjustable for poorer women. ‘“‘I’ve
made it a policy never to refuse a woman an abortion
because she could not affort it.’’ said Morgentaler.
Joe Borowski got a head start on the debate as his
supporters handed out literature to everyone as they
filed into the Multi-purpose room. Since the handing
out of propaganda has been strictly forbidden by
UMSU, many believed the anti-abortion literature was.
a program. So much for the tight security.

Borowski thanked everyone, including Peter

| Warren, for making the debate possible. He thanked

Morgentaler for ’’the most calm and rational speech I
have ever heard Dr. Morgentaler make in ten years’’;
he thanked the audience for being there; and finally,
he thanked his ‘‘dear mother, for choosing life for me
and my brothers and sisters.’’

Borowski’s mission: ‘“To stress the humanity and
rights of the unborn...’’, and to halt ‘‘the capital
punishment of the unborn, the most innocent of our
society.’ The former NDP minister of highways, and
now president of Alliance Against Abortion, sported
a large red rose (the anti-abortion symbol) on the lapel
of his light-blue suit as he delivered his opening
statements.

In the past, Borowski has been a very vocal opponent
of abortion. His protest against abortion has seen him
goon a hunger strike, refuse to pay his taxes because
medicare funds were being directed towards
therapeutic abortions, and resign as highways min-
ister in 1971. In May of this year, Borowski will
challenge the existing laws granting wormen the right
to have an abortion under the auspices of an approved
hospital committee, using the Bill of Rights as the
legal arguments for protecting the unborn fetus.

At one point, Borowski launched into an attack of
Morgentaler’s motives for opening his clinic and its
cleanliness. He accusssed Morgentaler of using un-
sterilized instruments, re-using single-use surgical
aids and keeping his clinic ‘‘half as clean as a vet's
clinic’. Although he did not say where he obtained his

-information, Borowski claimed many women have

caught Herpes 2 from Morgentaler’s clinic, prompting
him to suggest it be re-named ‘‘Henry’s Herpes’’.
Morgentaler denounced the attacks and said, ‘‘Mr.

Poti O Bre

  

 

Borowski has shown his true colors by not addressing
‘the issue, but by abusing me.’’ He said he may
consider taking legal action against Borowski.

Morgentaler leveled much of his criticism at
hierarchy of the Catholic church. While he did
want to imply all the Church’s members, ‘‘It is the
major church in the Western world that has fought
tooth and nail against the legalization of abortion,’’he
said. Between the thirteenth and nineteenth cen-
turies, abortion was allowed until the fourth month,
the time when the soul was thought to enter the fetus.
While abortion is an excommunicable sin and the
Church is still officially against any type of contracep-
‘tion, said Morgentaler, 80 percent of the patients at
his clinic are Catholic.

He said he ’’deplored the saintly attitude of that man
of the cloth,’’ who had asked him why he had recently
done an abortion on a 15 year old girl without the
permission of her legal gaurdian. Morgentaler, who
performed the abortion for free, said the girl had been
raped, and wanted the abortion. Her natural parents,
her foster parents, the abortion committee at her

 

 

 

 

 

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