Garson Romalis

Garson Romalis (October 23, 1937 – January 31, 2014) was a Canadian gynecologist who specialized in providing abortions. (See Abortion in Canada.) He was twice wounded in attempts on his life. The first attempt on his life was by far the most violent anti-abortion crime in Canada, according to the National Post. The second attempt was made by an unknown assailant who stabbed him and fled. Since being personally attacked, Romalis became more outspoken and more determined to provide abortions to women who want them. As such, he was a notable public figure in the Canadian abortion debate. The University of Toronto Law School invited him to speak at their Symposium to mark the 20th Anniversary of R. v Morgentaler. He worked to convince medical students of the need to continue providing abortions.

Garson Romalis was drawn to obstetrics and gynecology because he loved delivering babies. Abortion was illegal when he trained: he did not learn how to do abortions then. However, he remarks that he had "more than my share of experience looking after illegal abortion complications." He pointed out that in Canada and the U.S., septic shock from illegal abortion is virtually never seen today. Like smallpox, it is a "disappeared disease." In 2001, James Kopp was charged with the shooting of Dr. Hugh Short and is suspected of committing the other two shootings. Kopp is currently in prison in the United States, for the 1998 sniper-style murder of Barnett Slepian, an American physician from Amherst, New York who performed abortions.

In 2000, a young man accosted Romalis in the medical building where he worked and stabbed him. Romalis was not seriously injured. The attacker was not identified. Several witnesses had seen the attacker waiting for some time before Romalis arrived and even used a restroom in a pharmacy that opens onto the lobby. They described him as a white man in his 20s or 30s wearing a dark grey or black sweatsuit with a hood. When Romalis arrived, the attacker stabbed him in the back of the lower left ribcage. The man escaped through the parking lot of the building. A parking valet, Jesse Brouwer, chased the attacker for more than a block without success. News reports stated that about an hour before the stabbing, police were called to another clinic, Everywoman's Health Centre, because of aggressive anti-abortion protesters, on the lawn of the house next door. Three white men, two of whom had not been there before, were trying to intimidate women entering the clinic. The staff became so concerned about the level of intimidation that they called police. After police talked to them, the three men left about noon. Romalis was stabbed just before 1 p.m.

Vancouver police created a composite picture of the attacker who stabbed Romalis in the back. A man claiming to be the attacker called a local newspaper, threatening all the local abortion providers. A police spokeswoman said that the man claimed to be from the "Baby Liberation Army." On the same day, a man called another abortion provider in the city to warn that she would be next.

Death Romalis died on January 31, 2014, at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, following a brief illness.

Other activities Romalis was a speaker at the public 70th birthday party for Henry Morgentaler in Toronto, which was held in a small theatre on Yonge Street.