Not enough outrage on Morgentaler

I heard from a source inside the Tory government that the Prime Minister's office has only received about 2,500 emails and or letters on the Morgentaler Order of Canada.

That's not a whole lot. If there is a similar level of letters to the Governor General, which my source had no numbers on, the powers that be can easily assume people don't really care, that this issue will blow over, that it is already dying.

Today a delegation from Madonna House will return the medal awarded to their founder Catherine de Hueck Doherty in 1976. I plan to be there to take pictures and write up a report.

Charles Lewis writes in the National Post:

An Order of Canada given to a woman now being considered by the Vatican for sainthood will be returned by the religious community she founded as a protest over the same honour being given to abortion doctor Henry Morgentaler.

Catherine de Hueck Doherty, a Russian aristocrat who started Madonna House more than 60 years ago in rural Ontario, was given the award in 1976 in recognition of a "lifetime of devoted services to the underprivileged of many nationalities both in Canada and abroad." Ms. Doherty died in 1985 and her cause for canonization as a saint was started in 2000.

"We're not out to bash anyone," said Susanne Stubbs, an executive director of the Catholic community of about 200 lay people and priests in Eastern Ontario, who was a friend of Ms. Doherty.

"We're trying to focus on the award in the understanding of most people that it's for someone who has done a good thing for Canada. The medal itself, which I have in front of me, was received with gratitude. The unanimous opinion [here] is that he did not do something good for our country.

"The medal has been dishonoured."

Tomorrow Campaign Life Coalition will organize a demonstration outside the Princess Gate. I will be there as well.

OTTAWA, July 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Since the news about Henry Morgentaler's nomination for the Order of Canada was made public, people who believe in the dignity and sanctity of human life have been outraged. Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), the political arm of the pro-life movement, has been overwhelmed with requests from supporters to take action. In response, CLC has organized a protest at the residence of the Governor General, Rideau Hall (1 Sussex Drive), Ottawa, which will take place on Wednesday July 9 from noon until 2:00 pm.

Countless organizations are speaking out against this honour being given to someone whose primary interest has been making a profit from the killing of children in their mothers' wombs. Morgentaler was arrested and jailed for his activities in Quebec and continued to flout the law in all the other provinces.

Campaign Life Coalition told LifeSiteNews.com that they have been informed that busloads of people from surrounding cities will be participating in the demonstration Wednesday.

Polls in newspapers across the country show that grassroots Canadians are opposed to Morgentaler receiving this award. "Rather than being a unifying and positive step it is creating division across the country," said CLC. "Even the NDP premier Gary Doer of the Province of Manitoba has publicly stated his opposition to this."