in canada, abortion was formally banned in 1869. it would remain illegal for the next 100 years. in 1969, the "criminal law amendment act, 1968–69" legalized therapeutic abortions, as long as a committee of doctors certified that continuing the pregnancy would likely endanger the woman's life or health. in 1988, the supreme court of canada ruled in "r. v. morgentaler" that the existing law was unconstitutional, and struck down the 1969 act. the ruling found that the 1969 abortion law violated a woman's right to “life, liberty and security of the person” guaranteed under section 7 of the canadian charter of rights and freedoms established in 1982.