TORONTO (LifeSiteNews) –– Canada’s Campaign Life Coalition will host a courthouse gathering in support of veteran pro-life witness Linda Gibbons this Monday.
Gibbons, who has been imprisoned since late June, will be appearing at the Ontario Court of Justice, Room 901, 10 Armoury Street, Toronto, on Monday, July 22 at 10 a.m. There she will face four charges of contravening the “Safe Access to Abortion Services Act, 2017″ and one charge of mischief to property/enjoyment/operation. However, the 75-year-old grandmother will not be standing alone.
“Campaign Life Coalition is organizing a gathering on Monday outside the courthouse as a show of solidarity for Linda,” Campaign Life (CLC) spokesman Pete Baklinski told LifeSiteNews via email.
“We plan on being inside and outside the courtroom. We’ll have signs in support of Linda and signs demanding that the law that put her in jail be repealed.”
Baklinski also volunteered that CLC has launched a petition calling on Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey and Premier Doug Ford to repeal the “Safe Access to Abortion Services Act, 2017.” The legislation prohibits anyone from protesting within 50 metres of abortion facilities. Opponents of the law points out that it violates freedom of speech and also prevents pregnant women from receiving last minute offers of help.
The charges she will face stem from her pro-life witness outside an abortion clinic on May 23 and 31 and on June 4 and 12. The charge of mischief to property/enjoyment/operation (s.430(1)(c) CCC) stems from her June 12 arrest.
RELATED: Veteran pro-lifer Linda Gibbons arrested for third time in three weeks outside Toronto abortion mill
Gibbons was also arrested on the morning of June 26, having chosen to skip a court hearing in favor of witnessing outside a Toronto abortion clinic. Gibbons did attend a previous court hearing, on June 21, but refused to answer the judge’s questions, leading to an initial recommendation that she have a mental health assessment. However, Gibbons’ reason for refusing to respond was, according to Pete Baklinski, merely her decision to “identify with the unborn targeted for abortion who cannot speak for or defend themselves.”
RELATED: Linda Gibbons arrested for 4th time after skipping court to witness outside abortion clinic
In total, Gibbons has spent almost 11 years in jail for her peaceful witness on behalf of unborn children. Her sacrifice has not been entirely ignored or despised by the powerful in Canada, however: thanks to pro-life Conservative then-MP Maurice Vellacott, in 2012 both Gibbons and fellow pro-lifer Mary Wagner were awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal.
She is currently incarcerated in the Vanier Centre for Women correctional facility in Milton, Ontario.