Mary Wagner (Canada)

She protested in private abortion clinics in Toronto.[1] Wagner was arrested for the first time in 2012.[2] Following a nearly two-year-long trial, Judge Fergus O'Donnell found Wagner guilty of the charges, sentencing her to nine-month imprisonment and a two-year probationary limitation on being around abortion clinics.[3]

On December 23, 2014, after entering the Bloor West Village Women's Clinic abortion facility in Toronto she was arrested again and charged with disruption of business operations.[4][5][6]

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 in order to protect the lives of unborn children. Wagner's necessity defence was rejected by the court and upheld on appeal.[7]

In April 2016, Wagner was released from prison after serving a sentence for counselling women at a clinic.[8]

On December 12, 2016, Wagner was detained once again inside the abortion center in Bloor West Village on the day she effectively discouraged one of the women from aborting.[9] She was charged and sentenced to 9 months of imprisonment.[10][11]

In August 2017 public Polish TV reported that Wagner's mother appealed to Poles to send letters supporting Wagner to a Canadian judge who was considering appropriate sentencing for Wagner.[12] In September 2017, Polish right-wingers staged a demonstration in support of Wagner in front of the Canadian Embassy in Warsaw.[13]

In 2012, Canadian Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott stirred controversy when he chose to award a Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal to Wagner.[14][15][16] Some 60,000 medals were handed out, with each MP allocated 30 medals to disburse as they saw fit. Vellacott protested the honoring of Henry Morgentaler and hailed Wagner as a "hero of humanity".[17] Interim liberal leader Bob Rae criticised the award as potentially illegal incitement.[18]