![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
R.I.P. Dr. Morgentaler
(Plz excuse the cheeky icon; under the circumstances, it seems appropriate.)
We lost a great man today. Dr. Morgentaler, a doctor and Holocaust survivor who risked his life and freedom to ensure reproductive rights for women in Canada, is dead at age 90. He lived a good long life and no one lives forever, and he had the rare privilege, I imagine, of knowing with certainty that he left the world a tangibly better place for having been in it.
The word "hero" gets thrown around a lot, particularly in regards to police and military, but in Morgentaler's case, it really does apply. He wasn't a woman, didn't have to face the wrenching life-or-death choice that unwanted pregnancy could be. He didn't need to crusade for abortion rights. He could have lived a comfortable, wealthy life without being thrown in jail or living with fear of being murdered for doing his job. But he didn't. He chose a difficult path because it was the right thing to do, and I, along with so many other women, thank him for it.
Every child a wanted child, every mother a willing mother. Rest in peace, Dr. Morgentaler. You've earned it.
(On a tangential note, I see that the prohibition on speaking ill of the dead in newspaper obituaries applies, surprise surprise, only to awful politicians and such.)
We lost a great man today. Dr. Morgentaler, a doctor and Holocaust survivor who risked his life and freedom to ensure reproductive rights for women in Canada, is dead at age 90. He lived a good long life and no one lives forever, and he had the rare privilege, I imagine, of knowing with certainty that he left the world a tangibly better place for having been in it.
The word "hero" gets thrown around a lot, particularly in regards to police and military, but in Morgentaler's case, it really does apply. He wasn't a woman, didn't have to face the wrenching life-or-death choice that unwanted pregnancy could be. He didn't need to crusade for abortion rights. He could have lived a comfortable, wealthy life without being thrown in jail or living with fear of being murdered for doing his job. But he didn't. He chose a difficult path because it was the right thing to do, and I, along with so many other women, thank him for it.
Every child a wanted child, every mother a willing mother. Rest in peace, Dr. Morgentaler. You've earned it.
(On a tangential note, I see that the prohibition on speaking ill of the dead in newspaper obituaries applies, surprise surprise, only to awful politicians and such.)
no subject
no subject
Fortunately, I get most of my news off FB and my feed has been full of nothing but love and respect.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
So much respect for Doctors who fight for reproductive rights.
no subject
Well-said
no subject