A stalwart advocate of reproductive choice, Doctor Henry Morgentaler worked as an abortion doctor and activist since the 1960’s. Despite threats, protests, attacks, shooting, firebombs, arrest and imprisonment, Morgentaler took the cause all the way to Canada’s Supreme Court, where he won the case in the 1980’s. This struggle made him a household name in Canada, where the issue of abortion is still extremely contentious. Morgantaler was born to Jewish parents in Poland in 1923, and after having lost his parents to the Gestapo and surviving Auschwitz, he retained a strong sense of justice which he brought to the medical profession. Morgentaler died yesterday in Toronto at the age of 90.
Morgantaler was a Firebrand! This illustration from the Justseeds collective book Firebrands: Portraits From the Americas is by Jesse Purcell. Do you know a Firebrand, living or historical? Leave a comment!