Hamilton abortion doctor shot in 1995 featured in new season of true-crime podcast

An unresolved case involving a Hamilton doctor who provided abortion services and was shot in 1995is being featured in apodcast that investigates the suspected shooterand his other presumed victims.

Dr. Hugh ShortfromAncaster, Ont.,wasone of three Canadian doctors targeted in the 1990s, presumably for providingabortions, along with two doctors from New York.

His story is featured inSomeone Knows Something: TheAbortionWars,the newest and seventhseason of the CBC true-crime podcast, which launched this past week. Host DavidRidgenworks with investigative journalist AmandaRobbto look into the 1998 murder of her uncle, Dr. BarnettSlepian, who was a gynecologist in Amherst, New York.

Over the course of sevenepisodes, being released weekly on Tuesdays onCBC Listen, the pair dig into her uncle's case and his convicted killer, JamesKopp.

Kopp was convictedfor Dr. Slepian'smurderand is serving a sentence of 25 years-to-life with no parole.

"In addition to the murder of Dr. Slepian, James Kopp is a suspect in fourother attacks on doctors, because of the striking similarities between the shootings," Ridgen says in the first episode.

Throughout the investigation, they speak with family members of other shooting victims and local investigators where Kopp was identified as a "person of interest" by police, including in Hamilton.

Kopp had initially been charged with the attempted murder of Short, who was shot through a window in his home.

Charges were dropped in 2009 and the Ontario Provincial Police said then the decision was made after consulting with the Hamilton Crown Attorney's office about evidence inthe case, though no specific reason was given.

At the time, Short chose not to comment to media about his case andasked journalists to respect his privacy.

He died at the age of 86 in 2019. His obituary said he delivered"thousands of babies over his illustrious career as practitioner and teacher."

The podcast delves into the similarities between the cases and the questions that remain.

"Why Ontario?," Robb asks in the first episode, "I would be very curious to know who it was, why they did it, and how they feel about it now."

Koppis a person of interest in other shootings of Canadian doctors who providedabortionsincluding Dr. JackFainmanof Winnipegin 1997 and Dr.GarsonRomalisof Vancouver in 1994.

"All three Canadian doctors were badly injured, but survived,"Ridgensays, and all three,their families and communities had their lives "pretty much ripped apart."

Ridgen also notes that none of the Canadian cases were brought to justice.

"And like Amanda, I think there has to be more to the story about the shootings, the shooter or shooters, and who might have helped along the way," Ridgen said.

Thenew season comes at a time whenabortionrights are being debated in the United States after the leak of a U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion on May 2, that revealedthe court's conservative majority ready to overturn the 1973decisionestablishing the right to terminate a pregnancy.

Demonstrators have beenrallying across the U.S. to show their support forabortionrights, as the court's final ruling that could give states the ability to banabortionis expected in June.

When interviewed in 2019 by CBC, pro-choice doctor and activist Dr. May Cohen, who once also lived and worked in Hamilton,shared her experiences during the time when Dr. Short and the other Canadian doctors were targets of attack by anti-abortiongroups.

"It's very upsetting to think that there are people here who are so fixed in their ideas about what the role of women should be as reproductive producers," Cohen said.

While she had said she wasn't frighted personally in the 1990s because she wasn't providingabortionservices, "it was very troubling."

Twenty years after the attacks being investigated in the the podcast, discoursesurrounding access toabortionservices remains heated,prompting Ridgen and Robb to ask:"What can we learn from the past?"