I visited the University of Western Ontario (UWO) on May 31 for a panel at the Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences (formerly known as The Learneds). The London North NDP asked if I would speak at a film showing of the movie Choice, a biopic of the life of Dr. Henry Morgentaler.

If you are not on any email lists, you might not know that the UWO has decided to give Dr. Morgentaler an honorary degree. When they announced it in early May all hell broke loose and organizing has been going on ever since. Pro-choice activists circulated emails asking people to write Paul Davenport, the University President and thousands did but in the city of London it’s the anti-choice who are most visible.

I did a couple of talk shows that morning in London and felt as if I had moved 25 years back in time. I got questions I haven’t heard since the very early days of the abortion struggle. There were also a couple of incredibly anti-Semitic callers.

So far Western is holding firm but the anti-choice campaign is growing in strength. On the day I was there, I saw two anti-choice demos complete with huge posters of mangled fetuses — one at the University and one at the Choice showing. The London Free Press reported that Catholic school children participating in a track meet at UWO wore black arms bands to protest the degree.

It seems to me that the anti-choice movement is using the UWO decision to set up a beachhead in London, which has always had a strong anti-choice community. What concerns me is that much of the local media is on their side and the pro-choice majority is just starting to have a local presence.

The NDP meeting in support of Dr. Morgentaler attracted 150 people even with a $15 entrance fee. The Unitarian Church has started a Morgentaler Scholarship Fund. You can contribute online here. Scroll down and you’ll see a box where you can specify where you want your contribution to go. Just click on “Morgentaler Scholarship Fund.”

You can also mail a cheque to the Development Office, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street, Suite 2, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B8. That way with small donations we can make up for any money that the University of Western Ontario has lost because of alumni protests.

The anti-choice movement has a website to build support for their protest. Having failed to convince UWO to back down on the degree even though they seem to have almost total support from the London Free Press, they are now organizing a protest at the University for June 16, the day Dr. Morgentaler is getting his degree.

They seem to think that rabble.ca is organizing buses to build a march for Dr. Morgentaler, which isn’t true but the Women’s Issues Network is organizing a “Celebration of Choice” which will be held the day before the convocation. If you can join them or let your contacts and friends in the London area know about it, please do.

The pro-choice majority is starting to have a more visible presence in London and you can help. If you haven’t yet sent an email to Dr. Paul Davenport to tell him you support the brave decision of the UWO to grant Morgentaler a degree, please do so.

There is also a petition online. The anti-choice movement which is opposing the degree (mostly in the U.S for some reason) has now amassed over 10,000 signatures on its own petition. I hope you will review and sign this petition as soon as possible.

Judy Rebick

Judy Rebick

Judy Rebick is one of Canada’s best-known feminists. She was the founding publisher of rabble.ca , wrote our advice column auntie.com and was co-host of one of our first podcasts called Reel Women....