Representatives of the Canadian Chinese community have joined in the chorus condemning the awarding of an Order of Canada citation to abortionist Henry Morgentaler.

At a press conference in Markham, Ont. on July 24, a range of Chinese Christian organizations joined representatives of Campaign Life Coalition, REAL Women of Canada and the Right to Life Association of Toronto and Area, as well as a veteran social worker, in calling for the award to be revoked.

The event was covered by major Chinese language media in Canada, including OMNI TV, Fairchild TV and four leading Chinese-Canadian newspapers, as well as Toronto Catholic radio station Radio Maria and, of course, The Interim.

The press conference was an outgrowth of an alliance among Toronto-area Chinese Christian groups and churches that was first forged during the battles over the legalization of same-sex “marriage” several years ago. With the news that Canada’s most notorious abortionist was receiving this country’s highest honour, that coalition swung into action again and is growing.

The alliance currently includes: the Toronto Chinese Catholic Task Force; Chinese Martyrs Catholic Church; the Toronto Chinese Catholic Centre; Savior of the World Chinese Catholic Church; Saint Agnes Tsao Kou Ying Catholic Church; St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Parish; and the Jubilee Centre for Christian Action.

Press conference moderator Peter Chen told The Interim the hope is that the federal government will listen to the pleas of citizens, much like the Ontario provincial government did in backing off plans to eliminate recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in the legislature. He said actions being taken in addition to the press conference include a petition campaign (that had garnered 3,000 signatures by the time of the press conference) and the sending of an open letter to the governor-general.

“We hope that by spreading the news … the joint work of the Catholic, Christian and non-Christian communities will start growing and letting people know that regardless of religion and faith, life is life,” said Chen.

At the press conference, Raphael Wu of the Toronto Chinese Catholic Task Force said Morgentaler’s mission “has been a deadly assault upon the most helpless among us – that is, the unborn.”

Tony Markwick of St. Joseph the Worker Parish rued how the moral order of Canada has been steadily eroded. “What does our government do? Confer the highest honour of the country on Dr. Morgentaler … What an atrocity.”

Katherine Ye of the Right to Life Association of Toronto and Area said Morgentaler’s Order should be revoked since the advisory council was not unanimous in its decision, as required.

Mary Laframboise, a social worker for over 30 years, said it has been her experience that abortion is never a solution. “It’s a solution we take out of fear, out of ignorance and then we have the rest of our lives to regret it … We have to get together and find ways to say, ‘This is not pro-woman; it’s not pro-person.’ And of course, we’re losing all those little citizens who had gifts to give us as a society.”

Rev. Dominic Tse of the Jubilee Centre for Christian Action said the Morgentaler award serves to condone “a culture of injustice and brutality against the weakest members of our society.” He added that giving such an award allows society to blind itself morally “and to call injustice just; to call brutality acceptable.”

Ursula Kelly of REAL Women of Canada said Morgentaler “is not an honour in any way” and charged that the abortionist is using the award “to insult even further the Catholic and evangelical groups that have stood up and spoken against abortion for so many years.” The Order of Canada, she said, “has been commandeered by left-leaning politicians and used to their own ends to promote a left-leaning agenda.”

Nicole Campbell of Campaign Life Coalition concluded by saying that the Morgentaler award is a symptom of a more deep-rooted crisis in Canada. “There is nothing heroic or dignified in choosing to kill a baby and certainly, the highest honour in the land cannot be given to the country’s most notorious abortionist.”