Conservative leadership candidate Andrew Scheer scrums with media in Ottawa on Oct. 5, 2016. iPolitics/Matthew Usherwood

Several Conservative leadership candidates are throwing their support behind a contentious private member’s bill that deals with the criminal consequences of killing a pregnant woman — a bill which critics say could reopen the abortion debate in Canada if it’s passed.

Saskatchewan MP Andrew Scheer — who said during his leadership bid press conference last week that he wouldn’t revisit the question of abortion if he’s elected to lead the Conservative party — said Wednesday that he supports Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall’s bill, also known as ‘Cassie and Molly’s law’.

“It’s a good bill that recognizes the vulnerability of women who find themselves in difficult situations,” Scheer said while walking out of the Conservative party’s caucus meeting.

Conservative leadership contenders Maxime Bernier and Deepak Obhrai declined to comment. Michael Chong and Kellie Leitch did not respond to requests for interviews by deadline.

Abortion rights groups and Liberal and NDP MPs argue that, if passed, the bill would be the only piece of legislation to grant rights to a “preborn child”. They say that although the legislation only pertains to a third-party accuser, the bill inevitably would cause a ripple effect and infringe on a woman’s right to choose.

Asked today whether he thinks the bill is reopening a debate he’s vowed to shun, Scheer said, “I don’t believe it does,” before walking away briskly.

Bill C-225 seeks to make it an offence “to cause injury or death to a preborn child while committing or attempting to commit an offence against a pregnant woman.” Wagantall named the bill after Cassandra Kaake, who was found dead in her Windsor home in 2014. She was seven months pregnant at the time and had planned to name her baby Molly.

The father-to-be, Jeff Durham, wants to see the Criminal Code of Canada amended so that separate charges can be laid for killing an unborn child if an expectant mother is murdered. A human being, under Section 223 the Criminal Code, is defined as someone who has emerged completely, “in a living state, from the body of its mother.”

Bill C-225 is at second reading. Debate was scheduled to resume Wednesday evening in the House, but was delayed to another sitting due to a series of votes that went overtime.

Conservative leadership aspirant Brad Trost — who is openly against gay marriage and abortion — told iPolitics he will be voting for C-225. He voted for a similar bill eight years ago, which died when the election was called in 2008.

Trost said he would like to see the bill launch a renewed debate on the legality of abortion — a debate he said he thinks was never closed.

“If it gives the unborn some rights, I think that’s a good thing,” he said. “If it doesn’t … I still think it’s good legislation in and of itself. I’m good with either interpretation.

“My understanding, though, is that Cathay’s gone out of her way to try to make sure this doesn’t overlap with abortion as much as she possibly can.”

Wagantall — who also identifies as pro-life — has insisted since the start that her bill is not designed to renew debate on abortion.

“I have been assured by legal experts that this bill cannot in any way be used to impact a woman’s choice to terminate her pregnancy,” Wagantall said in a House debate back in May. “Abortion is by definition excluded from the bill.”

Trost applauded Wagantall for her work on the legislation.

“She’s doing a good job to reach out to people across the aisle to try to explain to them why this is positive and needed,” he said.

Tony Clement also told iPolitics in a phone interview that he supports Cassie and Molly’s law and said the legislation will not reopen the abortion debate.

“This is about a mother who is trying to carry a fetus to term, not one who wants to terminate her pregnancy,” Clement said in a follow-up message. “The two issues are polar opposites.”