By Ted Gerk
The Interim
Mary Wagner didn’t plan on going to jail this week. The 26-year-old pro-life activist found herself under arrest at 11:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 25, as officers from the Delta Police Force responded to a warrant for her arrest.
It was, in fact, the second such arrest for Wagner, since her release after being charged under British Columbia’s Access to Abortion Services Act, also known as the bubble-zone law.
Wagner was sentenced to one day in jail for a violation that took place on August 29. Provincial Judge Wallace Craig imposed a lesser sentence than the one Wagner received for her conviction last January, in which she was sentenced to 15 days in jail plus time served.
Campaign Life Coalition B.C. president John Hof feels that support is beginning to wain for the concept of “access zones.”
“Mary’s appearance before Judge Craig was significant. You had a judge who very much seemed to want to let Mary go, but felt constrained by previous court judgments.
“Mary is very much altering the landscape when it comes to civil disobedience in British Columbia. She hands out roses to expectant mothers, is arrested and then takes the full responsibility for her actions. She is shining the spotlight on an unjust law – and is willing to bear the full brunt of the law to do so. I cannot begin to tell you the effect it is having on pro-life youth in this province.”
Judge Wallace also added a probationary sentence, instructing Wagner not to return to the bubble zone. As expected, Wagner refused to sign or make any promises, but was released anyway.
Appearing at Everywoman’s Health Center the morning of October 24, Wagner was observing a demonstration put on by Just Neighbours, a pro-life group led by Vancouver social activist Lane Walker.
Police noted Wagner in the crowd and arrested her for “probation violation.” She was released a few hours later after officials could find no record or instruction dealing with the required restrictions. Later that evening Wagner appeared near the clinic to pick up her bike. Police originally claimed that this appearance was a further violation of restrictions on her attendance in a bubble zone, so an arrest warrant was issued. Police picked up Wagner on October 25, at approximately 11:00 p.m.
After continuous confusion, Wagner appeared before a Judge on October 27, where she was told her court appearance for probation violation would be February 12, 2001. Court officials acknowledged the probation confusion. She was then released. Again, she made no promises.
