Yes there is one: her name is Linda Gibbons, a harmless grandmother who happens to believe that murdering unborn babies is wrong. Unlike Omar Khadar, who is seldom out of the media and
undoubtedly deserves to serve a stretch in the clink, Linda Gibbons is largely ignored by the mainstream media, although there is this article in today’s National Post:
Linda Gibbons, an anti-abortion activist who has spent eight of the past 16 years behind bars for continually breaking a temporary injunction around a Toronto abortion clinic, has been abused by a legal system that has failed to deal with her in a proper venue and in a timely fashion, her lawyers told a provincial court judge on Tuesday.
The underlying behaviour of the Crown has been to delay doing its duty “and now 16 years later is taking advantage of its dereliction,” lawyer Nicolas Rouleau told Judge Mara Greene in a Toronto courtroom.
Daniel Santoro also argued that Ms. Gibbons should never have been arrested nearly 20 times for breaching the temporary injunction, which a civil court issued in 1994 at the request of the then NDP government.
Once inside the courtroom, her supporters stood silently as the 62-year-old defendant, whose skin looked nearly grey and who walked with a noticeable stoop, was brought in handcuffed. Ms. Gibbon sat through the two-hour hearing with her head down. She has never spoken at any of her court appearances, believing silence is part of her protest for the “voicelessness of the unborn,” a supporter, Father Tony Van Hee, explained.
Fr. Van Hee has held a 21-year vigil outside of Parliament Hill to make abortion a criminal offence. He and others think Ms. Gibbons is a prisoner of conscience.
Eight years in prison; not for committing a crime but for having the guts to stand against real criminals – abortion providers and those who support them. All brought to you by the party of compassion, the NDP.
In the last 16 years more than 24 million abortions have been performed in North America alone. Unfortunately, during that time 8 Doctors and or their assistants have been killed by Non Pro Life nut bars. When it comes to body counts the Pro Choice movement have proven to be very proficient killers at the rate of 3,000,000 to 1.
I guess it really is not that hard when your target is in the womb and the police and government authorities make sure the unborn have no chance of getting away before they can be executed.
What was the injunction? How did she break it? I think it is silly to blame the NDP for her situation. It’s been going on a heck of a lot longer than the NDP were in power.
Omar Khadar was fourteen years old when he was captured. He was a child soldier. He ought to have been returned to Canada and put in the custody of the Children’s Aid Society. What choice does a fourteen year old have when his father tells him they are going on a trip, get on the plane? Not a whole heck of lot. I think you are off base here, David.
It was the NDP that requested the injunction – something quite consistent with its pro-abortion position.
Linda Gibbons’ “crime” was attempting to talk to women entering an abortion clinic, the intent of the injunction was to stop her.
Omar Khadar was 15 when he tossed the hand grenade and was captured. He was undoubtedly indoctrinated by his batty parents, but he still made his own choice.
He did not choose to be where he was. His father put him there. How much choice does a scared fifteen year old have in the heat of battle, under attack, everyone he knows and trusts dieing around him. What would you have had him do? When he was captured, he should have been turned over to the Canadians and put into the custody of the CAS. (As I recall, he had a 20 something aged brother who was estranged from the rest of the family, living a perfectly ordinary Canadian life, who was willing to take him in). Now that he has spent eight years in Gitmo, he is probably radicalized past redemption at this point. Do you think he is going to get a fair trial? The proseution has four lawyers. He has one. The jury is composed of American mmilitary personel, and doesn’t have to be unanimous to render a guilty verdict. The whole thing is a complete farce.
The fact that the NDP requested the injunction isn’t particularly relevant any more. Linda Gibbons knew what she was doing when she broke the law by protesting. Is it a good law? No, probably not. She could, however, have protested without breaking it. She could have volunteered at a crisis pregnancy centre, and talked to women there. I dare say she would have prevented more abortions that way, and avoided going to jail.
Probably not???????
Kate seems rightly concerned for Omar and the one sided education of hate that he was forced to hear which unfortunately has led to his taking a life and his imprisonment. When our government prevents a woman getting all the facts and hearing the whole story behind her life or death decision, not only does and innocent child die but the mother will be a prisoner forever trapped in a prison of guilt and regret.
I can not judge Linda’s actions, because at this moment I am standing on the side lines doing nothing. I’m assumming that Kate must volunteer at a crisis pregnancy centre. May God bless Linda and Kate and help them to get His message to the ears that need to hear.
Actually, no. I’m a street oureach worker with Ottawa Innerciy Ministries.
We don’t know if Omar Kadhar actually took a life or not. That’s part of the injustice of the situation. We also don’t know if LInda was “giving women all the facts and [the whole story]” behind their life and death decisions. For all you and I know, she could have been behaving like Fred Phelps. The injunctions, I believe, were against demonstrations within a certain distance of the abortion clinics. I was living in Toronto during those protests – plenty of folks were content to obey the injunction and demonstrate outside the limit. She made the decision to engage in civil disobedience. I don’t have much sympathy for her. She knew what she was getting into.
Omar Kadhar did not. He is a victim. She is experienceing the conscequences of a decision she made with the ability to forsee the conscequences.
I should say, I was living in Toronto when the original injunctions were imposed. (I just realized how long ago that was. eek.)
I am reminded of a man that I met, Pastor Wurmbrand, he was released from his first imprisonment in 1956, after eight and a half years in a Romanian prison. Although he was warned not to preach, he resumed his work in the underground church. He was arrested again in 1959 and sentenced to 25 years. During his imprisonment, he was beaten and tortured. Pastor Wurmbrand knew that he was breaking the law of the land,he too like Linda knew what he was getting into. Fortunately for all those he led to Christ he counted the cost as gain for the Kingdom. Fortunately for him his brothers and sisters in Christ did have sympathy for him and did not abandon him.
Christ will judge all of our actions and inactions. If you are going to go to jail for civil disobedience I can’t think of a better reason that saving the unborn or sharing the gospel.
If she really was saving the unborn you might have a point. I hardly think that going to jail for protesting on the sidewalk in front of an abortion clinic, when she could have moved a few feet away and protested legally, is a comendable reason for going to jail. You are not comparing apples to apples.
Kate none of us know how many women heard what Linda had to say and did not go through with the abortion.
Linda believes she was called by Christ to do what she is doing and she is doing it. Nearly every person who has ever taken a stand of any meaning had always been second guessed by others as to whether there is a better way or had their motives questioned. May I suggesst that you read Linda’s own thoughts on the subject.
Read her letter sent from prison..”and having done all to stand” http://www.lifesitenews.com/gibbons/
See if there is anything there that you disagree with.
I disagree with her methods. I think they are foolish. According to the information at your link, the injunction is against her conselling in front of specific abortion “clinics”. Not all clinics, just a few specific ones. Why not go to a clinic that she hasn’t been forbidden to counsel in front of? Why not stand 61 feet away and simply pray? They wouldn’t have been able to arrest her then. She didn’t need to violiate the injunction to still fulfill what she saw as her calling.
Kate for the same reason Black people sat in seats buses on and in restaurants that they had been told not to sit in even though there were other seats that they could have sat in that would not have resulted in them being arrested. Her goal was to draw attention to an what she believes is an unjust law.
If you think her methods are foolish, but not Linda I can understand that, peace be with you.