On August 25, Joe Bissonnette, a 26-year-old teacher and pro-life activist, told Toronto Provincial Court Judge Sydney Harris that he would not pay “a dime” of the $400 he was fined for “trespassing” at Morgentaler’s abortuary in May.
Mr. Bissonnette, wearing a T-shirt which compared slavery to abortion, said outside the courtroom, “If I were to pay the fine, I would be recognizing the legitimacy of arresting and charging people for saving babies.”
Joe Bissonnette – with fellow activist, Mike Massin, 31, also of Toronto – was arrested and charged May 6 with breaking the injunction Henry Morgentaler obtained the day before from Ontario Supreme Court Justice Craig. They spent three days in jail.
They were both charged with breach of a court injunction, but police saddled Bissonnette with two extra charges: criminal mischief – for trying to lock himself to a railing at the abortuary’s back door – and trespassing. Judge Harris dismissed all charges except the one for trespassing. “It could be $4,000, I’ll never pay a dime,” Bissonnette told the court on August 25 to which Judge Harris replied, “I’m not going to make a martyr out of you.” Refusing to pay the fine could eventually lead to a jail term.
Paul Dodds, Mr. Bissonnette’s lawyer, told the court that his client’s protest was “an attempt to save young children from death by abortion.”
On the same day, Morgentaler and his lawyer Clayton Ruby held a press conference to complain about the lack of punitive actions against pro-life protesters. Ruby demanded three-to-five-year jail terms. Morgentaler denounced Ontario Attorney General Ian Scott for being “too soft on protesters.” The same Attorney General allowed Morgentaler to operate his then illegal abortuary from 1984 to 1988.
Judy Johnson, spokeswoman for Operation Rescue, who was present at the press conference, stated that “the law of God supersedes the law of man,” and that Morgentaler has the worst name of all – abortionist.
