Volume 4, Number 2 3
Published by the Students’ Society o f McGill University
Tuesday 26 March 1985
Not On Trial At McGill by Richard A Heft “ Abortion is a woman’ s right, not a woman’s privilege.” Those were the words o f Dr. Henry Morgentaler who spoke to a sell-out audience at Leacock 132 Wednesday night. The talk which was sponsored jointly by the Women’s Union and the Program Board was conspicuous by the absence o f any d em on stration s. “ I’ m greeted by d e m o n stra to rs everywhere I speak except in the province o f Quebec,” he said. Morgentaler was recieved en thusiastically by the supportive crowd and was given a standing ovation as he entered the auditorium. It was clear that the security precautions to protect him from what he has called a “ shrill and desperate opposi tion” were unnecessary that night. In his discussion Morgentaler spoke about his long struggle for the reform o f the abortion laws in Canada. He said his concern began in 1955 when, as a general practioner in Mon
treal, he came across numerous “ botched abortions” perform ed on women who desperately needed them. “ I knew that something had to be done for these women but I was afraid to act alone- — I had a wife and young children and could have had my licence taken away or be imprisoned for life.” M org en taler likened the situation to that o f being unable to help a drowning person because it was against the law to do so. In 1968 however, he decided that he had no choice but to begin to perform abortions in spite o f the risks. “ I was prac ticing what I preached but I began to live a very stressful life. I was living the life o f an outlaw.” In 1969 the abortion laws were liberalized. A bortions could then be performed if a committee o f doctors deemed the woman’s health to be en dangered by the pregnancy. It was also specified that abor
tions could only be performed in a hospital. The system, according to Morgentaler, was not only degrading to w om en but resulted in delays which greatly increased the incidence o f com plications during surgery. Morgentaler's Montreal clinic was raided in 1970 but he was acquitted in 1973 by what he called a “ French Canadian Catholic jury — a great victory for the pro-choice movement in this country. I thought the law was dented and would change, but it didn’t.” The Bourassa government decided to appeal the jury ver dict, which Morgentaler noted, cannot be done in either the United States or Great Britain. He lost the appeal and while ser ving sentence was acquitted by an o th er ju r y on separate charges. The ensuing public pressure, said Morgentaler, forced the federal government in 1975 to pass what is known as the continued page 3
S. Africa Committee Not Sacked by Stephen Hum Council rejected a motion Thursday night to dissolve the McGill South A frica Committee (SAC). The motion proposed by Martine Gagnon, V.P. (Exter nal) and seconded by the vice president (University A ffairs) Ron Leber, called for the repeal o f SA C ’s terms o f reference as o f May 31, 1985. Repeal o f the terms o f reference, the guidelines by which SA C is supposed to func tion, would have meant that SA C would be effectively dissolved as a committee o f council. In sponsoring the motion, Gagnon claimed that she har boured no personal grudges a g a in s t in d iv id u a l S A C m e m b e rs, n o r w as she dissatisfied with SA C ’s perfor mance this past year. “ I’m not saying that SA C hasn’t done a good job. Com pared to past years it has work ed much better.” remarked Gagnon as she presented the motion. However, Gagnon argued that the South A frica Commit tee, despite its mandate from council, was not a committee but rather a club in the interest group category, and the V.P. (External) suggested that once
the terms o f reference were repealed, SA C could reform as an interest group. Another complaint the spon sors o f the motion raised about SA C was the lack o f com munication and co-ordination the committee had with Council in the past. Said Gagnon, “ When I came into office, I found SA C hadn’t really worked as a committee o f council...W e thought maybe this (the current executive’s term o f office) would be SA C ’s ‘chance’ to really work with the council.” S c o tt K e a tin g , V .P . (Finance), asserted that SA C “ is a paradox. It demands the priveleges o f a committee but acts like an interest group.” C o u n cillo rs speaking in favour o f the motion raised the issue o f SAC participation in Anti-Reagan dem onstrations d u rin g th e A m e ric a n President’ s recent visit to Quebec City. “ I don’t think protesting Reagan has a whole lot to do with working against apartheid. As a committee o f council SAC shouldn’t have allowed Council to be seen to be endorsing the d em on stration s.” rem arked Keating. His remarks brought Keating into the firing line o f both angry
councillors and the audience. “ I think the students o f McGill have clearly indicated what they want in two referen da.” said Ginny Barton, clubs representative to Council. Daron Westman, clubs rep., demanded that a member o f SA C be allowed to address co u n cil.“ It’ s ridiculous to decide the fate o f a committee without allowing it to speak for itself.” When allowed to speak, SAC member Paulette Blais took GAgnon and Keating to task. “ Reagan is one o f the biggest collaborators with the apartheid system. As the only expressly anti-aparteid group on campus we had to go to Quebec.” she said in response to Keating. Blais dismissed claims by Gagnon and Leber that SAC and Council would be unable to work together. She did not deny there had been problems but she said, “ We had no set guidelines, so how could we work with council?” “ Meetings are at a set time and they are advertised in the Daily; if you wanted to come at any time you could have.” said Barton. Daron Westman proposed a compromiser: amendment o f S A C ’ s terms o f reference. Westman suggested six amend
ments, including requiring SA C to report monthly to Council and to consult regularly with the V.P. (External) and the V.P. (University Affairs). Gagnon hurriedly withdrew her motion when several coun
cillors, including President-elect James Green spoke in favour o f the amendment approach rather than for outright dissolution o f SAC. However, Gagnon refused to continued page 2
Whelan On Ethiopia by Drew Young ‘W e are facing the biggest challenge ever with millions who are part o f us, starving,” e x p la in s th e H o n o u ra b le Eugene Whelan, the current President o f o f the W orld Food C o u n c il. W h e la n , th e agriculture minister in all o f Pierre Trudeau’s cabinets over a fifteen year period, is expoun ding this theme over and over again on his current lecture tour to raise funds for the African drought victims in Ethiopia. Whelan was aware o f the pro blems that Ethiopia would be facing years before they became nightly horror stories on the news in North America. Whelan expressed his concern to other p oliticians, p rofessors and students but usually found that his audience was uninterested or bored. The outspoken Whelan is openly critical o f both Canada and the United States
regarding their aid for the famine stricken in Ethiopia. He has criticised the U.S. govern ment for paying “ American farmers $90 billion not to grow crops while the whole world gives only $14 billion in food aid.” Whelan stresses that even though Canada was Ethiopia’s largest donor o f food aid, until recently, it could help more. Lome Weston o f the Pro gram Board feels that, “ McGill students can do their part for famine relief in A frica by atten ding Mr. Whelan’s lecture and educating themselves on the true facts o f the Ethiopian disaster.” The witty and knowledgeable Whelan is generously donating his lecture fees from this speak ing tour o f Canada to relief fun ding for Africa. His lecture can be heard tonight at 7:30 pm in the Auditorium o f the Frank Dawson Adams Building.