Is it an honour or an outrage? That's the question being asked across the country after reports surfaced that Dr. Henry Morgentaler is being awarded the Order of Canada this week.
Morgentaler is the physician who championed a woman's right to have an abortion and performed them himself. The always controversial physician braved threats of violence, threats on his life and constant harassment both legal and verbal for the cause he believed in.
Some of those protests have died down over the past few years as Morgentaler's prominence sank into the background. But few can forget what happened a few short decades ago.
He's said to have performed hundreds of the procedures at his Toronto area clinics in the 1970s. He was repeatedly charged and even spent time in jail. His clinics were bombed by protestors. And he has been vilified by some religious groups, which equate abortion with murder.
But for better or for worse, he has refused to surrender his principles.
Morgentaler received a sort of vindication after the Supreme Court allowed abortions in 1988. But he remains a polarizing figure and still controversial after all these years.
Proponents argue he deserves the accolade, because he changed the landscape for women's rights and didn't give up in the face of overwhelming anger. He received an honourary degree from the University of Western Ontario in 2005.
Opponents accuse him of being no better than a murderer and a man who shouldn't be given Canada's highest civilian honour.
Now many of the same groups that have attacked Morgentaler all these years have confirmed they'll do everything in their power to stop the ceremony from ever taking place.
Joanne McGarry, the executive director of the Catholic Civil Rights League, is one of them. "We would really like to see the Order of Canada given to those who really inspire Canadians through their work in charity and cultural initiatives, things that Canadians tend to agree on. In this instance, we don't think you could really find very many topics that provoke more disagreement than abortion and the role that Dr. Morgentaler played in making it so widespread."
Katrina Cheney sees it much differently and holds Dr. Morgentaler in high regard.
"I met the doctor twice, and both times to perform abortion," she said.
"He was fighting for all these women, for all these girls especially, to have [the] right."
While many Canadians aren't holding back on their opinions of Dr. Morgentaler receiving Canada's highest civilian honour, politicians have been very quiet. Neither the Conservatives nor the Liberals have commented on the issue. There has also been silence regarding this particular award from office of the Governor General.
Morgentaler's message
Campaign Life's statement on Order of Canada possibility
If Morgentaler is nominated to receive the prize, he'll join a very elite group of Canadians. Here's a short list of some of them:
Bryan Adams (musician)
Margaret Atwood (writer)
Robert Bateman (artist)
Jean Beliveau (hockey star)
Edward Bronfman (liquor baron)
Jean Chretien (former Prime Minister)
Celine Dion (singer)
Michael Ondaatje (writer)
Mordecai Richler (writer)
Pierre Trudeau (former Prime Minister)
Shania Twain (singer)
Ben Wicks (cartoonist)
To see all 5,479 recipients of the Order of Canada,
click here.