(LifeSiteNews) – A Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidate has confirmed both her pro-life policies and her opposition to COVID vaccine mandates.
MP Leslyn Lewis released the two major platform updates this week.
“I am pro-life. I am not ashamed to say it,” Lewis wrote in the “No Hidden Agenda” position paper posted to her campaign website.
“Most of my friends are pro-choice. We are not afraid to discuss these issues, and there are so many things we agree on. These are issues that concern us all,” she continued.
“When we are afraid of talking about important topics, we don’t do anything to improve life for Canadian women. That’s why I put forward a ‘no hidden agenda’ platform on abortion in the 2020 race. I stand by those policies and would put forward the same four if elected leader now.”
Lewis’s “No Hidden Agenda” platform reads as follows:
- I will fight for the value of every girl through banning the misogynistic practice of sex-selective abortions.
- I will protect vulnerable women by criminalizing coerced abortions.
- I will increase funding for pregnancy centres.
- And I will end abortion funding overseas and focus Canadian funding on actually helping women and girls overseas thrive.
Lewis recounted how when she became pregnant while just starting her law career, countless people told her she had to choose between her “baby or my career.”
“People were telling me that I was being shackled to the starting blocks, never to run,” wrote Lewis.
“I look at my beautiful daughter now, and I am so grateful that I had the support of the key people in my life that told me they would be there for me no matter what I chose. I won’t pretend it wasn’t a challenge to build a successful law career with a family, but I am grateful every day that I did.”
SIGN this petition calling on Indian legislators to protect Christians from unjust anti-conversion laws.
Christians are being attacked relentlessly by violent Hindus in India, but some Indian states are compounding this persecution by jailing those accused of converting Hindus to Christ.
Using "anti-conversion laws", eight Indian states have outlawed any attempt by minority faiths such as Christianity to convert members of the majority Hindu population.
Please tell Indian legislators that their anti-conversion laws must be scrapped.
Christians know that, like St. Paul who himself was jailed (2 Tim 2:8-10), we cannot remain silent in announcing Christ to unbelievers (Acts 5:17-26), but our Indian brothers and sisters in faith are being imprisoned on trumped up charges when they have not violated any of these unjust laws.
Legislators in eight Indian states have created vaguely-worded "anti-conversion laws", leaving the door wide open to minorities being accused of "allurement" or "coercion" when sharing their faith with Hindus.
The wording often states that "no person should convert or attempt to convert, either directly or indirectly, any person from one religion to another by use of force or by allurement or by any fraudulent means".
The states of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand have already introduced these laws, with several more expected to follow.
Legislators have ignored the fact Christians are entirely opposed to forced conversions or deception, instead bowing to the demands of Hindu extremists worried that Christ is winning the hearts of Indians long maltreated in the inhumane caste system.
The false allegations of coercion made against Christians have resulted in the widespread persecution of believers across the country.
SIGN and SHARE this petition calling on Indian legislators to protect Christians from unjust anti-conversion laws.
As K.V. Turley reported on LifeSiteNews, one reason Christians and other minorities are persecuted is because of the growing popularity of the nationalist Hindutva ideology.
This ideology demands a Hindu-only India, resulting in sustained violence against those who would lead Hindus to Christ.
Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, then-General Secretary of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of India, said as early as 2018 that even members of the ruling Barathiya Janata Party (BJP) are "using false accusations to incite hate. And nobody in their party or in the government is revoking their problematic statements.”
The latest anti-conversion bill is set to be passed in Karnataka state, where Christians will face jail terms of up to 10 years if found guilty of converting others by alleged "force", "fraudulent methods", or as a result of marriage.
Karnataka has seen a significant increase in Hindu attacks on Christian priests, pastors and laity, with the BBC reporting at least one violent incident in 21 out of 31 districts.
Please SIGN to help almost 30 million Christians, who make up less than 2.5% of the Indian population, live in peace.
Right-wing Hindu radicals are known to barge into houses or churches where prayer sessions are conducted and demand the identity of those in attendance.
If Hindus are in the audience, conversion charges are pressed and the pastors are arrested. The onus of proof is on the pastors, catechists or priests.
Another issue is that Catholic priests, brothers and nuns teach, educate and empower the dalits (untouchables), the tribals and the poor. These then stand up for their rights, which is not pleasing to many politicians.
This petition will be sent to the Indian ambassadors to the USA and Canada, the Ambassador at Large of the United States for International Religious Freedom, the High Representative of the EU's Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and the president of India's ruling BJP party.
Indian legislators must be convinced to stop treating minorities with such contempt - speak up on their behalf now by signing the petition.
For More Information:
Blind couple in India was stripped and beaten for being Christian. Their six-year-old saw it all
Indian archbishop condemns government’s demolition of Jesus statue
Open Doors UK - Christian persecution in India
ACN: Catholic priest condemns Indian government's inaction
**Photo Credit: Video screenshot of a statue of Christ about to be destroyed by authorities in Karnataka on February 14, 2022**
Lewis added that should she become the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) she will always “support free votes on conscience issues in the House of Commons.”
She also noted that she will be putting forward a “comprehensive plan to help pregnant women with the added expenses of pregnancy and being a new mother. I believe this is something that can unite us as Conservatives and Canadians.”
Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) gives Lewis a “green light” rating as a “supportable” pro-life candidate for her strong voting record in favor of life.
Lewis recently touted her “common sense” pro-life policies in speaking with LifeSiteNews as well.
Regarding controversial issues such as abortion, she said that even those who may shy away from “pro-life” issues, in general, do support the “common-sense,” life-affirming policies she has supported.
Last fall, she and two other CPC MPs spoke at a CLC rally titled Save Our Charities. They called out pro-abortion Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for promising to strip pregnancy resource centers of their charitable status because they choose and promote life instead of abortion.
Lewis blasts COVID vaccine mandate and won’t disclose her jab status
In a new posting on her website, called “Your health care decisions are yours to make,” Lewis wrote that she believes COVID vaccine mandates are unconstitutional and that her jab status is private information.
“It is hard to believe that it is necessary, but the punitive actions of this Liberal government has shown that the individual health choices of Canadians need to be protected by law,” wrote Lewis.
“I have refused to disclose my vaccination status as a matter of principle. As much as they would like to, the Liberals can’t fire me for it, though it has still cost me personally and professionally in other ways.”
Lewis added that every “Canadian needs to know they are free to make their own health care choices without discrimination.”
“Whether or not you are vaccinated, I hope you agree with me that discrimination against your fellow Canadians is wrong, no matter what,” added Lewis.
For some time Lewis has called out a travel ban on the those who refused to take the COVID jabs as well as other COVID mandates imposed by the Trudeau government.
On her campaign website Lewis mentioned the recent news regarding the 2,500 federal workers who were suspended from their jobs for not disclosing their COVID jab status. She said, “Canada was not made safer because these employees were suspended.”
“The Canadian Human Rights Act prevents discrimination based on race, creed, sex, and other attributes,” wrote Lewis.
“Recently I seconded a bill by my Conservative colleague Garnett Genuis to add political belief and thought to the list of protections. As Prime Minister, I would go further, and introduce legislation to make sure you cannot be discriminated against due to your vaccination status.”
Earlier this month, Lewis did not back down on speaking out against the World Health Organization’s (WHO) “pandemic treaty” when a state-funded journalist grilled her for having criticized it.
In March Lewis said that if elected Prime Minister she will reinstate the Office of Religious Freedom to ensure Canada would once again be a “defender” of religious liberty.
In terms of CPC leadership candidates who are pro-life, CLC also endorsed CPC Marc Dalton, and Joseph Bourgault and gave a green light to Grant Abraham.
The CPC will announce its new leader on September 10.