Mary Wagner (born 12 February 1974[1][2]) is a Canadian anti-abortion advocate who has served prison sentences for entering abortion clinics to counsel mothers against abortion without consent of the facility staff.

Biography

Wagner protested in private abortion clinics in Toronto.[3] She was arrested for the first time in 2012.[4] Following a nearly two-year-long trial, Judge Fergus O'Donnell found her guilty of mischief and probation violation, sentencing her to nine months in prison and two years away from abortion clinics.

On December 23, 2014, after entering the Bloor West Village Women's Clinic abortion facility in Toronto, Wagner was arrested again and charged with disruption of business operations.[5][6][7]

In 2015, Wagner argued in court that violating her probation order by entering an abortion clinic and distributing anti-abortion materials to patients was a necessity to protect the lives of unborn children. This was rejected by the court and upheld on appeal.[8]

In April 2016, Wagner was released from prison after serving a sentence for counselling women at a clinic.[9] On December 12, she was detained inside the abortion center in Bloor West Village, after dissuading one of the women from aborting.[10] She was charged and sentenced to nine months in prison.[11][12] In August 2017, Telewizja Polska reported that Wagner's mother appealed to Poles to send letters of support to a Canadian judge considering her sentence.[13] In September 2017, Polish right-wingers staged a demonstration in support of Wagner in front of the Canadian Embassy in Warsaw.[14]

Political support

In 2012, Conservative Member of Parliament Maurice Vellacott presented a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal to Wagner.[15][16][17] Some 60,000 medals were handed out, with each member of Parliament allocated thirty medals to disburse as they saw fit. Vellacott protested the honouring of Henry Morgentaler and hailed Wagner as a "hero of humanity".[18] Interim liberal leader Bob Rae criticised the award as potentially illegal incitement.[19]

In 2015 the Polish Post issued a stamp with her likeness.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Mary Wagner siedzi w więzieniu - napisz do niej na urodziny". Instytut Gość Media. 2017-01-25. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  2. ↑ "Mary Wagner z Kanady w Rzeszowie - Diecezja Rzeszowska". 2016-08-05. Archived from the original on 2016-08-05. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  3. ↑ "Mary Wagner, Convicted Anti-Abortion Activist, Gets Diamond Jubilee Medal From Tory MP Maurice Vellacott". HuffPost Canada. 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  4. ↑ "'Your God is wrong': Anti-abortion activist to appeal conviction, saying judge attacked religion". National Post. 2012-06-07. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  5. ↑ b, k. "Mary Wagner arrested again in Toronto while speaking to abortion-minded women". canadiantimes.ca. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  6. ↑ "Wyborcza.pl". wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  7. ↑ "Canada - Arrestata l'attivista anti-aborto Mary Wagner" (in Italian). Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  8. ↑ "Protester fails to convince judge that anti-pipeline civil disobedience was a 'necessity'". National Post.
  9. ↑ Shaw, Jessica (2018). "Conscientious Affirmations: A Response to Conscientious Objections to Abortion". Women's Reproductive Health. 5 (4): 277–286. doi:10.1080/23293691.2018.1523120. S2CID 81240613.
  10. ↑ "Canada: Natale in cella per l'attivista pro-life Mary Wagner - CR - Agenzia di informazione settimanale". CR - Agenzia di informazione settimanale (in Italian). Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  11. ↑ "Mary Wagner potrzebuje twojej pomocy - wyślij list do sędziego w Kanadzie". gosc.pl. 2017-08-21. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  12. ↑ "Poland Embraces Pro-Life Champion Mary Wagner at World Youth Day". www.crossmap.com. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  13. ↑ "Działaczka pro-life Mary Wagner prosi Polaków o pomoc" (in Polish). Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  14. ↑ Żuk, Piotr; Żuk, Paweł (2020). "'Murderers of the unborn' and 'sexual degenerates': analysis of the 'anti-gender' discourse of the Catholic Church and the nationalist right in Poland". Critical Discourse Studies. 17 (5): 566–588. doi:10.1080/17405904.2019.1676808. S2CID 210358322.
  15. ↑ "They are the real heroes of humanity!". Maclean’s. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
  16. ↑ "Tory MP awards Diamond Jubilee medal to jailed anti-abortion crusader Linda Gibbons". National Post. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
  17. ↑ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23293691.2018.1523120 Conscientious Affirmations: A Response to Conscientious Objections to Abortion
  18. ↑ https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mp-defends-giving-queen-s-jubilee-medal-to-jailed-woman-1.1198998 MP defends giving Queen's Jubilee medal to jailed woman, CBC
  19. ↑ https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tory-inciting-anti-abortion-activists-to-break-law-rae-says-1.1198997 Tory inciting anti-abortion activists to break law, (as well they should) Rae says, CBC
  20. ↑ "Poczta Polska wyemitowała znaczki z wizerunkiem Mary Wagner". wPolityce.pl. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
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