TORONTO (LifeSiteNews) — A judge suggested that veteran pro-lifer Linda Gibbons be referred to a mental health court after she refused to answer questions posed to her during a hearing following her latest arrest.
On June 21, a Toronto judge initially recommended that 75-year-old Christian grandmother Linda Gibbons be sent to a mental health court because she would not answer questions regarding her pro-life activism outside a Toronto-area abortion mill.
“The 75-year-old Christian grandmother would not answer questions or even gesture when prompted by the judge,” Campaign Life Coalition’s Pete Baklinski posted on X.
Canadian pro-life heroine Linda Gibbons appeared before court this morning after she was arrested and jailed last week for witnessing to life in front of a Toronto-area abortion mill.
The 75-year-old Christian grandmother would not answer questions or even gesture when prompted… pic.twitter.com/BPRmvsTbpB
— Pro-life Canadian Man (@PeteBaklinski) June 21, 2024
“She chose instead to identify with the preborn targeted for abortion who cannot speak for or defend themselves,” Baklinski continued.
“The judge wanted to refer Linda to the Mental Health Court, which is designed to deal with accused persons who are experiencing mental health difficulties. But the Crown convinced the judge not to.”
“Linda, of course, is not mentally ill,” Baklinski clarified, explaining that Gibbons is “choosing to be like Christ, who was also silent when facing oppression and affliction, like a lamb which is silent when led to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7).”
Gibbons’ latest hearing followed her third arrest in just three weeks for holding a pro-life sign outside the notorious Morgentaler abortion clinic in Toronto.
The clinic, located in an office complex on 727 Hillsdale Avenue in Toronto’s upscale Leaside neighborhood, is one of many started by or named after Canada’s most notorious abortionist, Henry Morgentaler.
Her latest arrest took place on June 13. At the time, Gibbon’s close friend John Bulza told LifeSiteNews that the pro-lifer was “told she could leave if she promised not to go back to the Morgentaler mill.” Gibbons refused to “agree to the terms” offered to her, so she was sent to the Vanier Centre for Women.
Gibbon’s ministry is now considered criminal in Canada thanks to Ontario’s Safe Access to Abortion Services Act which 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.
Prior to her recent three arrest, all taking place in the span of three weeks starting in May, Gibbons was last arrested in September of 2015 after conducting a similar silent protest in front of the same Morgentaler 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.
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.
Editor’s note: This article was been updated on June 25, 2024.