Debate: If Morgentaler Why Not Somerville?

The Montreal Gazette should hire some of the people who write letters to the editor. Here are some bon mots:

"Alan D. Brown writes (Letters, 11 July) that Henry Morgentaler's Order of Canada is indeed a "politically" motivated award, one that promotes "freedom to exercise personal choice." Because Margaret Somerville acknowledges a need to limit personal freedom in some situations, including some of those that would otherwise end in abortion, he believes she's unworthy of the award.

But Brown ignores a basic, universal feature of the human condition: the need to make collective choices that sometimes conflict with personal ones. We are social beings, and every society has acknowledged at least some limits to personal freedom. That is why we have laws and governments.

Brown can argue that Somerville incorrectly identifies the limit of personal freedom in connection with abortion but not that she is somehow unworthy of an award that recognizes significant contributions to Canadian society."

Her contribution has been to promote a kind of freedom that has sadly gone out of fashion: the freedom to think for yourself and therefore, sometimes, to say unpopular things. It takes a great deal of courage to do that in the face of those who insist on conformity - that is, political correctness.

The Order's problem is not so much its political as its ideological motivation. Given what Brown and many others say, I must now conclude that its function is not to promote freedom at all but to promote one notion of freedom and thus establish a state orthodoxy. This is one kind of "unity" that Canada does not need."

Paul Nathanson

I must profess ignorance of Somerville however, the Morgentaler debate is proving why handing it over to him may not have been a good idea. I think the letter brings up a good point.