“CANADA

a

= By KERRY McCUAIG

FORON TO — Abortion went on trial —again —
‘anada as the Supreme Court case against Dr.
Morgentaler convened Oct. 7.

persistent efforts of the Montreal-based
jan to circumvent the abortion provisions in
iminal Code by performing the operations in
Jinic setting is a 16-year saga.

jo stranger to the courts, Dr. Morgentaler has
2 charged seven times in three provinces, been
suitted by four different juries and spent 10
af in a Quebec prison for his troubles.

fore the court is Section 251 of the Criminal
de. which states abortions may only be per-
a a in an accredited hospital after a committee
Vedoctors rules that the life or health of the woman

ay be endangered by continuing the pregnancy.

«defence of necessity”’; arguing that the restrictive

ure of the abortion laws caused him to break the

w to save someone from imminent danger. The

we s have agreed. Backing the conclusions of

ie epnment-sponsored reports they have concur-

4 that lack of access to legal abortions creates
yndue hardships and danger for women.

The defence has acknowledged that Morgental-
r’s actions contravened the law, but encouraged
- to ‘‘send a message”’ to the politicians that
ihe law was unjust.

It was this implication which won the Ontario

orney general's office the right to appeal the
November 1984 acquittal of Morgentaler. The

‘In past trials Dr. Morgentaler has relied on -

Abortion goes to Supreme Court

Court of Appeal effectively gutted Morgentaler’s
Strongest argument, ruling that ‘“‘defence of neces-
sity’’ was not valid justification for abortion and
that the doctor’s lawyer, Morris Manning, was out
of bounds in encouraging the jury to break the law.

This leaves the defence relying on the provisions
of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in an effort
to have the Supreme Court agree that Canada’s
abortion laws discriminate against women and

interfere with their right to life, liberty and security
of person. °

Past performance of the courts on this issue
leaves little room for optimism. The Canadian
Abortion Rights Action League lost a Supreme
Court challenge on this very issue in 1984. In 1983
the same court rejected a challenge by a former
Manitoba cabinet minister Joe Borosky, arguing
that abortion interfere with the rights of the fetus.
All this indicates that the courts are not anxious to
rule on a matter which properly belongs in the
political arena.

Although the Charter and the courts have not
proven to be a friend of progressive cases they are
right on this point. Abortion is a political issue not a
legal one. Avoiding their responsibilities they have
tried to bleed the progressive movements in
lengthy and expensive legal proceedings. It has not
been the choice of the pro-choice movement to go.
the legal route, this has been forced upon it.

But the process holds a lesson, reliance on the
courts in a capitalist society to address inequality
and injustice is a false road. A woman’s right to
choose birth or abortion will only result from a
strenuous political campaign.

TORONTO — The Task Force
Implementation of Midwifery
ontario launched a month long
ssion. of public hearings here,
re 6 to receive proposals on
gulations for the field.
he Ontario government an-
‘anced the task force last Jan-
vary in response to growing con-
mer dissatisfaction with mater-
ty care services.
"With the establishment of the
_pmmittee, Ontario becomes the
st province in the country to
e steps to legally recognize
idwifery as part of the health
e system. Canada is one of
fy eight countries among the
: 0 members of the World Health

Organization who do not recog-
nize the practice.

Currently midwives in Canada
receive training outside the coun-
try or apprenticeship under a
practicing midwife. The Associa-
tion of Ontario Midwives and the
Midwives Association of Canada
are calling for midwifery to be
established as a separate self-
regulating profession with its own
college.

They want Canada to adopt the
international definition of mid-
wifery which sees the midwife as
a Specialist in normal childbirth
and a full member of the health
care team.

The Association argues that it

Ont. moves to legalize midwifery

provides a complementary and
alternative service for consumers
who are becoming increasingly
alarmed by the rising rate of sur-
gical and pharmaceutical inter-
vention in childbirth and the over
use of specialist care in a normal
physiological process.

It cites the need for a greater
range of choices in childbirth
including family-centred mater-
nity care in hospitals, birthing
centres and adequate back up for
safe home birth.

Differences concerning mid-
wifery arise out of its implement-
ation. The College of Nurses sees
midwifery as an area of spe-
cialization within the profession

YISM 0344 — OLOHd 3NNBINL

Protesting the arrests of three Toronto doctors on abortion-related
charges, pro-choice supporters rallied outside the provincial court
house, on the eve of Morgentaler trial.

and nursing schools as the proper
training facility.

Organized Working Women,
an organization of trade union
members, wants equal con-
sumer-professional represen-
tation on a governing body and
the extension of the health insur-
ance program to cover full

counselling, educational, pre-
ventative and neo and post-natal
care.

Opposition to midwifery comes
from the powerful Ontario Medi-
cal Association and the Ontario
College of Physicians and Sur-
geons. Both have come out
strongly against home birth.

By BRUCE MAGNUSON

A $30-million offer to settle a
| Temagami Indian land claim battle could
be the catalyst that rekindles a political
| war with dangerous racist overtones that
raged in Northwestern Ontario about a
decade ago.

Then as now, the battle concerned
| Jand use and the varied interests - in-
yolved, such as loggers, tourist
operators, de velopers and, the effect that
these would have on fish, wild life and
| the environment in general.

The offer gives the Bear Island Indians
the option of taking up to $15-million in
land, to be selected through negotiation
| with the Ontario government. But the
|} terms of the offer require that any land
selected within the Temagami planning
area continue to be subject to the plan-
ning and zoning bylaws of Temagami
| Township.
| The proposal protects existing private
property rights in the region as well as
| existing public water and land accesses
‘| such as portages and trails.

Moreover, the Ontario offer is condi-
tional on the federal Government agree-
ing to pick up 50 per cent of the cost. To
date there is no such commitment from
Ottawa. However, the federal govern-
ment already agreed more than one hun-
dred years ago that the Indians had never
signed any treaty surrendering the area,
but was unable to convince Ontario,
which controls Crown land, to take part
in a settlement offer made at that time.

Historical Considerations

In 1973, the Indians filed a legal cau-
tion on the land title in 110 townships —
only three of which are organized and
have councils. The caution, together
with a subsequent court battle with the
province, which is still in the appeal pro-
cess, effectively froze development and
mineral exploration.

The current offer stands until January
9, 1987. But Chief Gary Potts said a re-
sponse would have to await a study of the
offer anda full meeting of the 700-member

Racist overtones in Ontario’s north

band. He also pointed out that an esti-
\mated $2.7-billion in minerals and timber
have been taken out since the band

launched its complaint a century ago.
* ok *

As the Communist Party of Canada
(Ontario) told a Royal Commission of the
Northern Environment in Thunder Bay
in February 1983, ‘“‘environment’’ in-
cludes not only natural environment but
also the social, economic and cultural
conditions influencing the lives of the
people in their communities.

Environment Inclusive

European settlement and
capitalist industrialization in Canada
were carried through at the expense ofits
original inhabitants. The Indian, Metis
and Innuit peoples were robbed of their
lands and herded into reservations. They
were denied equal rights of citizenship
and of self-government. The oppression
of the Indian, Metis and Innuit peoples is
continuing to disgrace Canada and must
be abolished and the rights of the Native

“se

Peoples fully restored. It is the duty of all
democratic Canadians to help win
recognition of their identies as Peoples.
The government-ward system must be
abolished and they must have full poli-
tical equality, including the right to de-
cide on all measures relating to their dis-
tinctive development.

“In place of an official state policy that
discriminates against our Native Peoples
we must develop new governmental rela-
tions with the Indian, Metis and Innuit
peoples. Any and all developments must
come through consultation and agree-
ment with the people concerned.

“This can be done on the basis of
establishment of genuine Canadian con-
trol through public ownership and demo-
cratic management of all natural re-
sources of the areas concerned.

“The Communist Party of Canada
supports fully the just demands of Cana-
da’s Native Peoples for meaningful
settlement of their land and environ-
mental claims.” i

PACIFIC TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 15, 1986 e 5