A pro-life activist is facing charges of mischief and failing to appear in court after protesting outside of a Toronto abortion clinic.
Over 20 pro-lifers protested the arrest of Linda Gibbons outside the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto Monday morning and later filled the courtroom in support of her.
“I think it was it was beautiful to be able to pack the court with pro-life supporters there for Linda,” Maeve Roche, the youth outreach coordinator for the national pro-life group Campaign Life Coalition, told True North outside the courthouse.
Roche helped coordinate many of the protesters who rallied in support of Gibbons.
She said Gibbons decided to remain silent during her proceedings to identify herself with the unborn children who are voiceless and cannot defend themselves in the face of abortion.
“Seeing Linda and being able to shout our support for her in the courtroom was really beautiful,” Roche said. “Hopefully, she is impacted by our presence, knowing that there are so many Canadian pro-lifers who support her and her beautiful ministry to protect pregnant mothers and their children.”
Gibbons was arrested May 30 after she marched back and forth in front of the door of the Morgantaler abortion clinic in the Leaside neighbourhood of Toronto. She held a sign with a picture of a baby, which read, “Why mother? I have so much love to give.”
She had been arrested in the same location one week earlier and returned instead of attending her court hearing.
Gibbons is a long-time pro-life activist and previously received an abortion herself. She has served more than 11 years in prison over nearly three decades of activism. She said in a previous interview that she had been arrested around 25 times since her first arrest in 1989.
Ontario’s “bubble zone” laws create a 50-metre radius around abortion clinics prohibiting pro-life activism. Gibbons was protesting the existence of the zone itself and trying to persuade mothers against having abortions.
Most provinces have some version of the bubble zone law, with Manitoba and Saskatchewan being the exceptions.
Her courtroom appearance was procedural, scheduling further court dates in August and October. The pro-life community nonetheless wanted to show gratitude for her activism and willingness to give up her freedom for the cause.
The courtroom was packed with Gibbons’ supporters. When she entered in handcuffs, her supporters stood in solidarity before Justice Kate Doorly, who presided over the case, told them to sit down.
Gibbons remained silent when Doorly spoke to her.
As Gibbons was taken away from the courtroom and placed in handcuffs again, one supporter yelled, “That’s unnecessary!” Others shouted, “God bless you, Linda!” and “You are a real warrior for Christ!” before leaving the courtroom together.
Roche said bubble zones are an unnecessary limit to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as there are already laws that protect women from harassment and clinics against potential pro-life violence.
She hopes to raise awareness of Gibbons’ case, which she expects will end up getting appealed to a higher court. She would like to see the pro-life movement push Ontario MPPs to repeal the bubble zone legislation.
One Gibbons supporter, Campaign Life Coalition intern Nathalia Comrie, related to Gibbons as she, too, is from the “post-abortive community.”
Comrie told True North that she felt coerced by her partner and family when in high school to get an abortion and wished that someone had been “on her side,” providing a pro-life perspective when she went to the clinic.
She said pro-life activists are sometimes the only people informing new mothers of the potential risks and consequences of abortion.
“Inside the abortion clinic, they do not tell you about pregnancy care centers or the long-term or short-term effects of abortion,” she said. “For me, at least in my experience, they told me a lot of lies. They said that the pain was going to feel like period cramps. It did not. It was 1000 times worse, and they told me that there was no research to prove that it would affect my fertility. That is not true.”
Comrie’s concerned that bubble zones, while infringing on Canadians’ rights to free expression, also prevent an essential piece of the conversation from being told to mothers coming in for abortions.
“They are only there to facilitate the ending of your child’s life,” she said.
Gibbon’s next court dates are Aug. 20 and Oct. 22.
