http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080702/...cda_morgentaler <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>TORONTO - Abortion rights activist Dr. Henry Morgentaler said Wednesday he's honoured to receive the Order of Canada and that the country has set an example for other countries to emulate. Morgentaler, best known for taking the issue of abortion rights to the Supreme Court and striking down the country's abortion laws in 1988, said he feels that "finally now, the government recognizes my contribution to Canadian women." "I hope that Canada has set an example and that internationally people and governments will respond to it," Morgentaler, 85, said at a media conference at his clinic. Morgentaler said abortions are safer and more accessible thanks to his efforts and he believes he deserves the award. "Now, in this country... abortion has become one of the safest surgical techniques," he said. "The safety and health of women has been preserved and I'm very proud of that." Abortion rights groups applauded the decision, announced Tuesday, saying Morgentaler put his life and liberty on the line to advance women's rights. Opponents of abortion say the Order of Canada should unite Canadians and not divide them. The Harper government was quick to distance itself from the controversial decision, pointing out that the Order of Canada recipients are announced by the Governor General on the recommendation of an advisory committee. Morgentaler, a Polish-born physician who survived the infamous Dachau concentration camp, quit his family practice in Montreal in 1968 to open his first abortion clinic in defiance of the laws of the day. He soon found himself before the courts, where he was acquitted by a jury that accepted his defence of medial necessity for the abortions he performed. But the verdict was overturned on appeal and he went to jail for 10 months. It took three more trials and three more acquittals - two in Quebec, one in Ontario - before his case made it to the Supreme Court. The Order of Canada is the country's highest civilian honour to recognize a lifetime of outstanding achievement and dedication to community. Also named Tuesday as Companions of the Order of Canada were Kim Campbell, the country's first female prime minister, and former Supreme Court justice John Major, who recently headed the inquiry into the 1985 Air India bombing that killed 331 people. Among those named an Officer of the Order was rocker Randy Bachman, formerly of The Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive, for his contributions as an iconic Canadian rock musician and his support of Canadian music.</div>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>He soon found himself before the courts, where he was acquitted by a jury that accepted his defence of medial necessity for the abortions he performed. But the verdict was overturned on appeal and he went to jail for 10 months.</div> I prefer the American justice system...
