Henry Morgentaler - Death Threats, Assaults, and Bombings

Death Threats, Assaults, and Bombings

There have been many instances of anti-abortion violence against Dr. Morgentaler, his staff, his patients, and his colleagues. Anti-abortion violence is described by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service as single-issue terrorism.

Death threats against Dr. Morgentaler have been frequent. In the 1980s, a reporter noted that the stack of death threats for a single month was six inches thick.

In 1983, a man attacked him with garden shears outside of his Toronto abortion clinic. Judy Rebick blocked the attack and Morgentaler remained unharmed. Augusto Dantas was charged with assault and with possession of a weapon dangerous to the public good.

In 1985, the Toronto Women's Bookstore was firebombed by arsonists targetting Morgentaler's clinic, which was located above the bookstore.

In May 1992, the Morgentaler Clinic on Harbord Street in Toronto was firebombed during the night by two people (caught on security camera) using gasoline as fuel and a firework to set off the explosion. The next day, clinic management announced that the firebombing failed to prevent any abortions, since all scheduled abortions were carried out in alternative locations. No one was hurt but the building had to be demolished. The Women's Bookstore next door was also damaged, specifically the women and childbirth section. On the day after the firebombing, Morgentaler came to inspect the damage and a crowd of abortion-rights supporters appeared at the clinic with signs that read, "Just Say No to Bombs" and "Honk for Choice." As a result of the arson, the Ontario government decided to spend $420,000 on improved security for abortion clinics. At the time, all four free-standing clinics in Ontario were in Toronto. The government wanted to gather information about activities by pro-life sympathizers; at the time, law enforcement agencies in Canada did not collect statistics about harassment and violence against abortion providers, their clinics, or their clients.

After sniper attacks on other doctors such as Garson Romalis and Hugh Short (see Anti-abortion violence), abortion providers in Canada were aware that their own lives could be in danger from pro-life assassins with high-powered rifles.

The murder of Doctor Barnett Slepian in Buffalo on October 24, 1998, also by a high-powered rifle, reinforced the threats. Abortion doctors wore bullet-proof vests and pulled their curtains to prevent assassins from shooting into their homes. Dr. Morgentaler was quoted as saying, "I know of anecdotal evidence that some doctors are considering that they might not be able to continue. It's a very bad situation." He said that he would go on performing abortions. Dr. Morgentaler believed that the attacker was an American and that the attacks were an unwanted byproduct of the vitriolic, religiously fuelled abortion battle in the United States. He stated, "In Canada, you have fewer religious fanatics, there is much less violence in Canada and it's a much more tolerant society."

In response to the stabbing of Dr. Garson Romalis in 2000, Morgentaler noted that some doctors in Ontario, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland had stopped doing abortions. "For years, we have been living in the shadow of the doctors being killed", said Morgentaler. "This violence is a sign of frustration, rage and moral bankruptcy in the anti-abortion movement."