Henry Morgentaler has long been a figure of controversy: his initial decision to establish an abortion clinic in Montreal challenged Canadian law, leading to several trials and a jail sentence--and finally to changes in the law itself. What kind of person is Henry Morgentaler? Why did he choose to defy the laws of the land? Was it idealism? Desire for fame, money, martyrdom? Eleanor Wright Pelrine searches Henry Morgentaler's life for answers. Born in Poland, condemned to a death camp by the Nazis, he managed to survive the Second World War and immigrate to Canada as a young man. She describes his medical practice in a low-income Montreal neighbourhood, and the circumstances that led him to found an abortion clinic there. Finally, she chronicles the decade-long battles that ensued between Morgentaler and law-enforcement authorities.