TORONTO (LifeSiteNews) — Two key witnesses have testified that pro-life heroine Linda Gibbons’ activism did not “interfere” with the abortion clinic’s operation.
On September 19, the Ontario Court Justice Maria Speyer heard the case of 76-year-old pro-life grandmother Linda Gibbons who faces criminal charges of “mischief” for her pro-life witness outside a Toronto abortion mill.
“Miss Gibbons is not speaking,” Speyer noted at the beginning of the trial after Gibbons refused to answer any questions directed to her.
As she previously explained, Gibbons has determined to remain silent during her court appearances to witness to the vulnerability of the unborn who are killed in the womb.
According to the charges, Gibbons is guilty of “interference” with the operation of a business, the abortion mill.
However, during the trial, two major witnesses, a police officer and an abortion worker, testified under oath that Gibbons was not blocking women from entering the abortion center by standing outside with her pro-life sign.
The remainder of Gibbons’ trial is scheduled for Monday, September 23.
Gibbons will also face three charges of breaching the province of Ontario’s so-called “bubble zone” laws, which prohibit pro-life activism near abortion mills. That case will be heard in another court.
Ahead of the trial, the courthouse was surrounded by pro-life Canadians who gathered to show support for Gibbons and her courageous stand for life. When the trial began, the pro-lifers packed the room to hear the judge’s decision.
In July, Gibbons was sent to a mental health court after she determined to remain silent during her court hearings.
Previously, a judge at a previous hearing suggested sending her to a mental health court but decided against it.
Gibbon’s trial comes after she was arrested for a fourth time after deliberately skipping a court hearing related to her advocacy, choosing to witness in front of an abortion facility instead.
The abortion mill, 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.
Before that, her most recent arrest took place on June 13, which was her third arrest in just three weeks.
Gibbons’ 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 government of Doug Ford has never challenged the law.
Prior to her recent string of arrests starting in May, Gibbons was last arrested in September of 2015 after conducting a similar silent protest in front of the same Morgentaler center.
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 advocacy has resulted in her spending almost 11 years in jail for her peaceful witness for mothers and unborn children.
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.”