Bette Mildred Stephenson Pengelly (July 31, 1924 – August 19, 2019) was a Canadian medical doctor and politician in Ontario. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1987, and was a cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative governments of Bill Davis and Frank Miller. Background Stephenson was born in Aurora, Ontario, the daughter of Clara Mildred (Draper) and Carl Melvin Stephenson. She graduated from Earl Haig Secondary School in North York, Ontario in 1941 and was the only female in her class to go on to university. She entered University of Toronto Medical School at the age of 17, a year younger than what was then the minimum age for admission, after persuading the dean to waive both the rule and the $680 tuition fee. She attained her medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1946. Stephenson practised medicine for more than 40 years. She was a member of the medical staff, a Director of the Outpatient Department, and Chief of the Department of General Practice at Women's College Hospital. She was also a member of the medical staff at North York General Hospital. She was a founding member of the College of General Practice in Canada, now known as the College of Family Physicians of Canada. She was also the first female member of the board of directors of the Ontario Medical Association and the Canadian Medical Association, and served as the first female president of both organizations. In 1974, she released a report stating that there were too many foreign-born students at the University of Toronto, particularly from China. The statements she made led some Chinese physicians to create the Federation of Chinese Canadian Professionals of Ontario which later became the Chinese Canadian Medical Society. On behalf of the CMA, she lobbied then-Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau to remove abortion from the Criminal Code. According to Stephenson, he agreed to do so, but then reneged and instead introduced amendments to the Criminal Code that provided for abortions only when the health of the woman was in danger as determined by a three-doctor hospital committee. Politics Stephenson was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1975 provincial election, representing the constituency of York Mills in North York. She was appointed to Bill Davis' cabinet as Minister of Labour on October 7, 1975. She won a convincing re-election victory over Liberal candidate Wilfred Caplan