Anglican pastor Father James Linton was arrested and charged with criminal trespass while standing on a public easement outside a San Bernardino Planned Parenthood facility on Friday, October 7, 2016.
Friday is abortion day at the San Bernardino Planned Parenthood.
California Catholic Daily details the events leading up to Father Linton’s arrest that particular day:
On Friday, October 7, the Planned Parenthood manager told Fr. Linton and other sidewalk counselors not to set foot in the driveway and then called the police. The police officers told the counselors not to trespass and not to harass the patients. The counselors agreed, telling the police that they had never trespassed or harassed anyone. A few minutes later, while Fr. Linton was standing on the public easement along the side of the facility talking to a mother, police arrested him.
Life Legal Defense Foundation, which is defending Fr. Linton against the criminal trespass charges, wrote that police held him for six hours before charging him, noting that Linton “could be sentenced to up to 90 days in jail and a $400 fine” if the charges stand. LLDF’s senior staff counsel Allison Aranda believes Fr. Linton’s arrest is a violation of his First Amendment rights, as he “simply offered assistance and alternatives to its patrons that could save the lives of their precious babies.” But this particular abortion facility erected a wall for the purpose of hindering sidewalk counselors from speaking to abortion-vulnerable women and families.
Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties’ medical director, Dr. Jennefer Russo, was caught on tape by the Center for Medical Progress last year, discussing the organization’s relationship with fetal tissue procurement agency Da Vinci Biosciences. Russo also revealed that at the time, due to a shortage of the heart drug digoxin (used in late-term abortions to ensure fetal death), her facility was not administering the drug. This leaves open the possibility that children in late-term could have been accidentally born alive during late-term abortions:
According to California Catholic Daily, Fr. Linton says he has always been against abortion, but didn’t become passionate about reaching out to mothers and fathers on abortion facility sidewalks until he saw last year’s undercover videos released by the Center for Medical Progress:
“The combination of seeing abortion victims sorted through for parts and my wife being pregnant destroyed me,” he said. “She organized a protest and I’ve been in front of the clinic every Friday since.”
