News

TORONTO, ON, March 3, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a relatively brief court appearance Friday afternoon, Mary Wagner was remanded to May 13 and 14 for the continuation of her trial, in which she is moving to challenge the current status of human being in Canadian law as applying only to those fully born. 

She is being tried after pleading not guilty to one count of mischief and three of failing to comply with probation orders for entering the “Women’s Care Clinic” on Lawrence Avenue West in Toronto on August 12, 2012. She entered the abortion facility with the intention of counseling abortion-bound women to choose life for their babies. 

She has been imprisoned since that time because she declines to agree to bail conditions that include staying away from abortion sites pending the conclusion of her trial. 

Image

Wagner reaffirmed that position when asked by Justice Fergus O’Donnell at the conclusion of Friday’s hearing whether she had reconsidered. O’Donnell then went on to opine that Wagner would probably be of better use to her cause outside prison than within. 

Earlier, defence counsel Charles Lugosi said he had two expert witnesses lined up to testify as to the humanity of the unborn when the trial proceeds to its evidentiary phase. They include an award-winning associate professor of neurobiology and anatomy and a director/vice-chair of research at a school of medicine. 

First, however, O’Donnell must decide whether Wagner even has standing to put forth such an argument in the cause of a constitutional challenge. Submissions for and against that proposition will take place at the May hearings. 

Click “like” if you are PRO-LIFE!

Lugosi also asked the court to arrange for future hearings to be held in rooms with larger public galleries, as seats for past sessions have been filled by Wagner’s supporters and interested spectators. This was ultimately arranged with a trial co-ordinator and the next round of hearings is scheduled to begin in Room 307, a larger venue, of the Ontario Court of Justice at 1000 Finch Avenue West at 10 a.m. on May 13.

A Polish film documentary producer was present at Friday’s hearing and said afterward he is interested in the possibilities of producing a work on Wagner’s case. 

Pro-life supporters are being encouraged to attend the May hearings and to assist in defraying the costs of Wagner’s constitutional challenge, which will include the expenses of flying in and accommodating the expert witnesses. Information on how to contribute is in a previous LifeSiteNews article here

Meanwhile, the first of three appeals being filed by Linda Gibbons regarding past convictions for pro-life activism is scheduled to begin being heard in the Superior Court of Justice in Toronto on April 24.