BC Liberal MLA Rich Coleman calls abortion ‘totally wrong’ at pro-life rally

A week after voicing his opposition to a farming bill by comparing it to the Holocaust, BC Liberal MLA Rich Coleman is in the spotlight again, this time for comments he made at a pro-life rally on the lawn of the BC Legislature in Victoria.

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The rally was held on Thursday, and Coleman was invited to speak.

During his short address, the Langley East MLA said that “in our daily lives, people too often forget that there really are things in our society that we have to stand up for.”

The fact that “somebody wants to do things with the right-to-life at the end of life, or the right-to-life at the beginning of life is totally, totally, wrong for me,” he told the crowd. “We have a right to life. I don’t know how anyone can’t get that…and why they could possibly think there could be any other solution than to have that.”

In the conclusion of his address, Coleman said: “I pray for our success, and your success, as we continue to stand up for human life, and I pray for all of you to have a successful day today.”

Coleman wasn’t the only BC Liberal MLA to speak to the crowd, as the MLA for Chilliwack-Kent Laurie Throness also took the opportunity to say a few words.

Throness – who is the Official Opposition Critic for Children and Family Development – told those in attendance not to back down or apologize for their views or beliefs.

“You need to get active, you need to become part of the public conversation,” he said.

Following the event and the remarks by the two MLAs, BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson tweeted that while his party is a “big tent” party, with many “views and faiths,” it still supports a woman’s right to choose.

While we are a big tent party that includes many views and faiths, our position as a party has not changed in that we support a woman’s right to choose. #bcpoli

— Andrew Wilkinson (@Wilkinson4BC) May 9, 2019