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Interim Liberal Leader Robert Mitchell says he supports a woman’s right to choose despite attending an anti-abortion march in Charlottetown on Sunday.

Mitchell attended the March for Life, an annual event organized by the P.E.I. Right to Life Association on Sunday afternoon. On its Facebook page, the group states that it does not believe abortion to be a human right and claims provinces are not required to fund abortions on demand.

However, when reached by phone on Monday, Mitchell said that he supported a woman’s right to choose and that he attended the event at the request from an organizer, who happened to be a constituent.

"Being there yesterday was just a commitment that I made to go and listen. I made that commitment in one of my earliest interviews when I became leader, that I would listen to all Islanders on all sides of all issues,” Mitchell said.

Interim Liberal Leader Robert Mitchell. - Contributed

Mitchell said he had been part of a cabinet decision to bring abortion services to P.E.I. in early 2017. For 35 years prior to that, surgical abortions were not performed on P.E.I.

Public pressure by women’s organizations, as well as a pending legal challenge resulted in a decision by the MacLauchlan government to offer the services on the Island. Since then, 400 procedures have been performed, including medical and procedural abortions.

Mitchell said his views differed from those of the Right to Life Association.

"They have a different viewpoint. I stood with government three years ago to say that women should have the right to choose and services should be available here. Those are two different viewpoints," Mitchell said.

Jillian Kilfoil, executive director of the Women’s Network of P.E.I., said she was personally shocked and hurt that Mitchell attended the March for Life.

Kilfoil said she believed that, as Liberal leader, Mitchell was representing more than just his own constituents in Charlottetown-Winsloe when he attended the event.

- Mitch MacDonald

“He may have made the decision as the MLA for District 10 to want to represent constituents, but he needs to balance that with being leader of an entire party for an entire province," Kilfoil said.

Kilfoil also said the legal right of women to access reproductive services was not up for debate.

"When it comes to abortion and women's access to reproductive choices and options, it's not about weighing all sides equally, it's about what's legal and what is required based on the health-care needs of women," Kilfoil said.

A Supreme Court decision in 1988 struck down Canadian laws restricting abortion access.

Kilfoil said she is concerned about the erosion of reproductive rights in P.E.I. In recent weeks, several U.S. states have passed bills restricting abortion access.

Stu.neatby@theguardian.pe.ca

Twitter.com/stu_neatby

National group

A national group affiliated with the P.E.I. Right to Life Association is the socially conservative Campaign for Life, which organizes a yearly pro-choice march in Ottawa.

On its website, the Campaign for Life advocates restricting or banning Gay Straight Alliance clubs in Ontario schools as well as scrapping that province’s sex ed curriculum, which includes a focus on consent and contraception.

The well-funded organization also played a role in last February’s Progressive Conservative leadership race, sending letters to hundreds of party members, urging them to vote for pro-life candidates. Dennis King, who is pro-choice, nonetheless became the leader of the party.

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