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Mary Wagner

TORONTO, January 12, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Jailed pro-life heroine Mary Wagner is scheduled for another court appearance January 26, but it’s unclear if a trial date will be set at that time.

Wagner, who is representing herself, appeared briefly in an Ontario, Canada, courtroom on Friday to receive disclosures of evidence of the Crown’s case against her.

She will be back in court in two weeks to discuss with the judge how to move the case forward.

Wagner, 43, has been in jail since her December 8 arrest at Women’s Care Clinic, an abortion facility located on the fifth floor of 960 Lawrence Avenue West in Toronto.

She and a friend entered the abortion center with red roses and attempted to persuade women to choose life for their unborn children.

Wagner is charged with mischief and two counts of breach of probation.

In a December 22 court appearance, Wagner asked Justice Howard Chisvin to release her on the sole condition she return for her trial, pointing out that she is already under two probation orders to stay away from all abortion centers in Ontario.

The judge refused, and instead imposed the Crown’s requested bail of $500 and the condition that Wagner stay away from abortion centers until her trial.

“It’s up to you, Ms. Wagner, to sign it or not sign it,” Chisvin told her. “If you choose to sign it you can go…”

But Wagner refused to sign the bail order. She will likely remain behind bars until her trial.

And just when the trial will take place remains an open question, said Wagner's friend and supporter Linda Gibbons.

A well-known pro-life advocate, Gibbons has spent two weeks shy of 11 years in jail for her peaceful pro-life witness outside Toronto’s abortion centers.

She characterized the judge’s bail condition, as well as the repeated court appearances, as “abusive” to Wagner.

“What they offered her is a violation of her conscience,” Gibbons told LifeSiteNews. 

“They’re telling her, okay, we’ll stop beating you if you sit down and turn your back on the unborn. And, that’s not Mary.”

A faithful Catholic, Wagner has spent four years, nine months and counting behind bars for her peaceful and prayerful attempts to rescue women and unborn babies from the violence of abortion.

But Wagner accepts these consequences in solidarity with children in the womb, who have no voice and no protection under law, says Gibbons.

Canada has sanctioned the killing of unborn children since 1969, when then-Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s Liberal government passed an omnibus bill decriminalizing abortion. 

The Supreme Court struck down that law in 1988 with the Morgentaler decision, which resulted in abortion on-demand for practically any reason. To date, Canada’s parliamentarians have failed to legislate any protection for the child in the womb. 

Moreover, Prime minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberals have made the false claim that there is a Charter right to abortion. They have made this claim a Liberal Party imperative and their government’s driving core mandate.

“When Mary’s in court, it’s not her that’s on trial, it’s the system that’s on trial,” Gibbons told LifeSiteNews. 

The “rigmarole” that Wagner is going through is “abusive” to her, Gibbons said, but Wagner is “taking it on” as part of her identification with unborn children.

“The unborns’ suffering has been drawn on for 40 years, so if Mary has to go to court umpteen times to defend life, that’s her little identification with the unborn,” added Gibbons.

“I often had a saying, that the system wants to chew me up, but they haven’t figured out how to spit me out. And, that applies to Mary, too.”

Wagner is scheduled to appear in Room 303, 1000 Finch courthouse, January 26.

Her mailing address is: Vanier Center for Women, 655 Martin St., Milton, ON L9T 5E6

Related:

Judge’s order leaves pro-life activist Mary Wagner in jail for Christmas

Pro-life heroine writes powerful Christmas letter to supporters from jail cell

Mary Wagner jailed again after entering abortion center to save unborn babies