TORONTO (LifeSiteNews) –– Veteran Canadian pro-life warrior Linda Gibbons, who was arrested this morning for witnessing in front of an abortion clinic in Toronto, told LifeSiteNews yesterday that she was planning to protest Thursday despite the threat of arrest and jail because she needed to help make heard the “call of the unborn.”   

Gibbons, who has spent years in prison for her activism, was arrested again Thursday morning for witnessing in front of Toronto’s notorious Morgentaler abortion clinic. Yesterday, LifeSiteNews had spoken with Gibbons ahead of her peaceful witness.

“I don’t take a day off, I’m silent in the protest, I’m silent,” Gibbons told LifeSiteNews on Wednesday.  

“Just like the children of womb (who can’t be heard),” said Gibbons. “I’m answering the call of the unborn.”  

LifeSiteNews was contacted by one of Gibbons long-time close friends, John Bulsza, a day before her protest. Bulsza told LifeSiteNews that Gibbons was aware that being arrested was a likely outcome of her activism.  

“She’s a brave woman,” said Bulsza, adding that despite Gibbons having spent years in jail for her witnessing to life through silent protests in front of the same Morgentaler abortion clinic and other clinics, she has never “intended to stop” her pro-life activism.  

Bulsza explained that Gibbons has kept a lower profile since her release from jail in 2016 because a close friend of her’s became ill and required Gibbons help.

Bulsza told LifeSiteNews that since then, Gibbons’ friend has died, and that now she is “free to get back into the world” by defending the unborn with her silent protests.  

Ontario’s Safe Access to Abortion Services Act was put into effect on February 1, 2018, and was passed the previous year by then-Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government. The law bans any pro-life activity, including praying, sidewalk counseling, and showing “disapproval” of abortion, within 50 meters of Ontario’s eight abortion facilities. 

While the law was implemented by Liberals, the long-reigning Progressive Conservative of Doug Ford has never challenged the law. 

Gibbons being held in police station, charges not yet known 

On Thursday afternoon, Bulsza contacted LifeSiteNews to confirm directly that Gibbons arrest happened about three hours after she began her silent protest in the defense of life outside the clinic, located in an office complex on 727 Hillsdale Avenue in Toronto’s upscale Leaside neighborhood.  

Gibbons was onsite shortly after at 7 a.m., holding a sign that read, “Why Mom? When I have so much love to give?”  

Toronto Police were eventually called to the scene, at which point she was placed inside a police car, interviewed and then ultimately arrested.  

Bulsza said Gibbons is being held in Toronto Police Division 53 police station.  

“They are going to strip search her,” Bulsza told LifeSiteNews, explaining the processing procedure. Bulsza added that he does not know at this time what she has been charged with, but he suspects it will be related to Ontario’s 2018 Safe Access to Abortion Services Act.

Bulsza told LifeSiteNews that it is possible Gibbons will be released, but that one thing she will not do is sign any form promising to stay away from abortion mills upon her release. As such, Bulsza told LifeSiteNews that this will likely mean she will stay behind bars longer.

Gibbons won’t ‘stop’ and will be a witness to life behind bars  

Bulsza noted that Gibbons will not stop her pro-life activism once in jail. 

“When she is arrested, she will be working in jail, helping in there,” he said.  

Gibbons yesterday noted to LifeSiteNews that during her previous stays in jail, she was able to witness to the sanctity of life to the many prisoners she was placed with.  

Gibbons was last arrested in September of 2015 after conducting a similar silent protest in front of the Morgentaler abortion clinic. 

After spending some 141 days in jail, an Ontario judge in 2016 convicted her of breaking a 1999 civil injunction that bans pro-life activities within 500 feet of Toronto’s Morgentaler abortion facility. This injunction was later superseded by Ontario’s Safe Access to Abortion Services Act. Gibbons was released from jail after her conviction. 

In total, Gibbons’ pro-life activism has resulted in her spending almost 11 years in jail for her peaceful witness to mothers and unborn children.  

According to Campaign Life Coalition, abortion has killed over four million preborn babies in Canada since its legalization in 1969, which is roughly equivalent to the total population of the province of Alberta.  

Unlike in the United States, abortion in Canada has existed in a legal vacuum since being decriminalized more than 30 years ago. This means that, in effect, there is and never has been a “legal right” to abortion in Canada.  

The 1988 Morgentaler decision saw the Supreme Court of Canada throw out the last remaining abortion law on the basis that it was unconstitutional. Since then, there has existed no federal law regulating abortion, and thus the practice is permitted through all nine months of pregnancy. However, the ability to introduce a law is possible.