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Liberals Reject Pro-Life MP, Reopen Abortion Debate In Canada

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David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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By rejecting a pro-life Member of Parliament (MP) as the chairwoman of a Parliamentary committee, Trudeau Liberals have moved abortion to the forefront of the national news, says a leading Canadian pro-life leader.

On Tuesday, Liberal MPs on the status of women committee rejected Conservative MP Rachael Harder as the nominated chairwoman and forced another Conservative MP to take the job.

Karen Vecchio was elected to chair the committee — even after she made it clear to all the members that she was not running for the job and was supporting Harder.

“Although I appreciate the nomination, I would like to back down from the nomination,” Vecchio told her colleagues.

The Liberals and left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP) members on the committee ignored her protest and elected her anyway. They said they could not support Harder because she was pro-life.

The disregard for protocol has not only left the Liberal government open to criticism but made abortion a national issue in Canada again as anger grows over the decision.

NDP’s Sheila Malcolmson shrugged off the issue, telling reporters, “It would have been much better if the Conservatives had proposed a reasonable candidate themselves.”

A leader of Canada’s pro-life movement is outraged by comments like that. The vice-president of REAL Women told The Daily Caller Wednesday that the Trudeau Liberals may get more than they bargained for by insisting a pro-life woman can’t be the chairman of a Parliamentary committee.

“By callously imposing their will on the committee this Liberal government has inadvertently raised [abortion] as a priority issue,” said Gwen Landolt.

Landolt is urging Conservative leader Andrew Scheer to tell Vecchio to refuse to serve as chairwoman. “He should be telling her, ‘no way: resign,’” she said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has applauded the decision by his MPs to reject Harder and has said that someone with pro-life views cannot represent women’s rights.

Anyone running for the Liberal Party of Canada must renounce pro-life policies and declare their support for “a woman’s right to choose.”

In a joint statement from Vecchio and Harder, the pair said the Trudeau and the Liberals are “politicizing” the the committee’s work.

“For Justin Trudeau to say a member of Parliament is unfit to hold a procedural position because she doesn’t agree with his personal position is ridiculous,” they wrote.

“Conservatives accept the democratic will of the committee, and unlike Justin Trudeau, we commit to working on behalf of all women in Canada, regardless of their beliefs.”

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