A national pro-life group has ranked those in the race for the B.C. Liberal leadership, based off each candidate鈥檚 鈥減ro-life principles and policies.鈥�
Ahead of the February vote, group Right Now has released charts and Q and A鈥檚 on who they would like to see be voted as the next leader.
Of the candidates, Vancouver-Langara MLA Michael Lee is their top pick.
According to the group鈥檚 website, Lee responded to a questionnaire saying he wanted to decrease sex-selective and late-term abortions, and that minors should need parental involvement to get an abortion.
But in a release Wednesday afternoon, Lee clarified his stance on the controversial issue.
鈥淢ichael was raised in a Catholic household by a family with strong beliefs,鈥� the release said. 鈥淗e does not believe in imposing his views on others and would not be introducing legislation.鈥�
The father of three also said that while there should be tools and resources provided to minors to have conversations with their parents about an abortion, 鈥渉e recognizes this may not fit the circumstances of all young women and that parental involvement should not be mandatory.:
Meanwhile, MLA Sam Sullivan said he鈥檇 like to 鈥渞estore Christianity to a central and positive role in society,鈥� according to Right Now, garnering him a spot as the second most-liked contender.
When asked by the group what sort of provincial pro-life legislation he鈥檇 support, Sullivan said: 鈥淩educing Christianity to simple rules that come off as intolerance or lack of sympathy for the complexity of life has deep repercussions that have caused many people to turn away from all of the other contributions Christianity should be making to our society.鈥�
Andrew Wilkinson told the group he is not pro-life, while Kamloops鈥� Todd Stone and Abbotsford鈥檚 Mike de Jong didn鈥檛 respond to the 鈥渕ultiple interview requests鈥� and South Surrey candidate Dianne Watts declined to complete the questionnaire.
Right Now鈥檚 goal is to nominate and elect pro-life politicians into power across the country, according to its website.
鈥淎fter being born into one of the only countries in the world with no law on abortion and working full-time in the political pro-life movement that saw little success, we realized it鈥檚 time for change,鈥� the group鈥檚 website reads.
@ashwadhwani
ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca
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