Linda Gibbons was committed to a trial to be held on Thursday, April 26, on a charge of disobeying a court order, during a brief appearance in a Toronto courtroom Feb. 14. The trial, expected to last four hours, will be held beginning at 10 a.m. in room 504 of the College Park courthouse at Yonge and College Streets in downtown Toronto.
The charge was laid following her appearance outside the Morgentaler “Clinic” abortion site in Toronto last Dec. 16. The site is protected by a civil court-imposed “bubble zone” that prohibits pro-life activity of any kind within its boundaries. The Crown withdrew an accompanying charge of obstructing a police officer because “there was no reasonable probability of conviction” on it.
The coming trial will be precluded, however, should the Supreme Court of Canada bring down a decision that Gibbons and others cannot be charged criminally for violations of injunctions enacted by civil courts. That issue is currently being pondered by the court due to an appeal by Gibbons’s legal counsel. Various injunctions under which Gibbons has been charged over the years have been enacted by civil courts; however, she has always been charged and convicted criminally. The court will decide whether this isa proper procedure.
Gibbons remains incarcerated at the Vanier Centre for Women in Milton pending her trial as she refuses to sign bail conditions that require her to stay away from abortion sites. During her latest court appearance, about a half-dozen supporters in the public gallery stood in salute as she entered and left the courtroom.
A version article originally appeared Feb. 15 at LifeSiteNews.com and is reprinted with permission.
