R v Morgentaler

R v Morgentaler was a 1988 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada striking down the Criminal Code provision that required abortions to be approved by a therapeutic abortion committee at an accredited hospital, holding that the procedural barriers this system imposed violated a woman's right to security of the person under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Doctor Henry Morgentaler had been repeatedly prosecuted for performing abortions outside the approved committee system. The ruling left Canada with no federal criminal law restricting abortion at any stage of pregnancy, a status that has remained unchanged since.