Gibbons arrested for pro-life witness

Pro-life photographer harassed by cops

Editorial staff

Long-time Canadian pro-life activist Linda Gibbons was arrested May 15 after silently protesting at the Scott abortuary on Gerrard Street in downtown Toronto.

Just before 9 a.m., Gibbons dumped approximately 100 headless plastic dolls on the steps of the abortion facility. She carried a sign with a picture of a baby and the question, “Why mom?“ Gibbons then paced silently back and forth in front of Scott’s. A police officer arrived on the scene shortly afterward, but received no response from Gibbons to his questions. To stand in solidarity with the unborn, Gibbons has remained silent when approached by police during her pro-life witness.

After talking to abortuary staff, the officer confronted The Interim’s photographer on the scene, to inform her that she was prohibited from taking pictures of the abortion facility out of consideration of its clients. Resisting the intimidation of the officer, the photographer showed that she was not taking pictures of the women seeking abortions, but rather of Gibbons and her witness. The officer examined the digital camera and let the photographer stay without further harassment.

The officer returned to Gibbons to again ask her to leave; she remained silent.

About an hour after Gibbons began her witness, the sheriff arrived and Gibbons was placed in a cruiser because she would allegedly not abide by the conditions of the temporary 1994 injunction against pro-life witnessing near abortion facilities and allegedly refused to remove herself outside the 60-foot bubble zone. Unlike during previous arrests, Gibbons co-operated with police by getting into the cruiser rather than going limp and being carried into the vehicle.

Since her first arrest in 1994, Gibbons has been arrested numerous times and has spent more than five years in jail in defiance of abortion.

She is currently at the Vanier Center for Women in Mississauga.