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MP Lisa Raitt

OTTAWA, January 5, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — Conservative leadership candidate Lisa Raitt says she regards abortion as a difficult issue but told CTV that she would “never make it illegal, ever.”

The Catholic MP from Milton told Don Martin, host of CTV’s Power Play, that “My mother had me and was going to give me up for adoption. She chose not to have an abortion, so I have some really personal views about it.”

Added Raitt: “I think it’s a decision that is a tough decision for any woman to make, but I would never bring in legislation to make it illegal, ever.”

Jeff Gunnarson, vice president of Campaign Life Coalition, said his organization “is pleased to know that Lisa Raitt’s mother made the right decision to give her daughter life, in what apparently was a difficult situation.”

But Raitt was born in May 1968, just one year before the Liberals under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau legalized abortion with the Omnibus bill of May 14, 1969, Gunnarson observed, adding: “If abortion access was wide open as it is now in Canada when Raitt’s mother was pregnant with her, would she be here to run in the CPC leadership race?”

“We don’t know the circumstances surrounding the birth of Lisa Raitt,” Gunnarson told LifeSiteNews, “but I find it disconcerting and shameful that someone who reportedly might have been a victim of abortion, but safely made it through to this side of the birth canal is now fervently supporting not only the choice of any woman to kill her pre-born baby by an abortionist or a pill, but that she have unfettered access to carry that out.”

The MP for Milton has been “red-lighted” as unsupportable by  Campaign Life Coalition for her anti-life voting record. CLC notes in its assessment that Raitt marched in the Toronto Pride Parade in 2016 and voted in 2012 against Stephen Woodworth’s motion to study when human life begins.

Most recently, Raitt, who was minister of natural resources, labour and transport during Stephen Harper’s governments, voted for Bill C-16 to add “gender identity and expression” as prohibited grounds for discrimination under the Human Rights Act and as grounds for hate speech in the Criminal Code.

However, Raitt voted against Bill C-14, which legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2016, and cited her Catholic faith when in 2010 she also opposed a private member’s bill to legalize euthanasia.

Campaign Life has endorsed Saskatchewan MP  Brad Trost and former Ontario MP  Pierre Lemieux as supportable candidates for the Conservative leadership, based on their unambiguous pro-life and pro-family voting record and current campaigns.

Trost and Lemieux support introducing legislation to ban sex-selection abortion, which is Conservative Party policy, and reopening the debate on abortion and euthanasia.

“This is a heaven-sent opportunity for pro-lifers to elect a social conservative as leader of the Conservative Party,” Gunnarson told LifeSiteNews.

“If you haven’t bought a membership to the Conservative Party, do so,” he added, pointing out that to be eligible to vote for the party leader, one must buy a Conservative Party membership before March 28.  

At this point, there are 13 candidates. In the running with Raitt, Trost and Lemieux are Chris Alexander, Maxime Bernier, Steven Blaney, Michael Chong, Kellie Leitch, Deepak Obhrai, Erin O’Toole, Rick Peterson, Andrew Saxton, and Andrew Scheer.

Entrepreneur and reality TV personality Kevin O’Leary has launched a committee and website to explore a leadership bid.

February 24 is deadline for candidates to enter the race, which will be decided on May 27, 2017.

For information on how to support pro-life candidates Trost and Lemieux, visit Campaign Life’s website  here.