Anti-abortion Tory MP Rachael Harder loses bid for status of women committee chair

A Conservative MP whose beliefs on abortion prompted her Liberal counterparts to walk out of a hearing last week won't be heading up the status of women committee after all.

With the help of NDP members, Liberal MPs voted against making Lethbridge MP Rachel Harder the chair of the committee, opting instead for her Tory colleague Karen Vecchio.

Last week, the Liberals and NDP walked out of the committee meeting to protest the nomination of Harder, who holds anti-abortion views.

The Campaign Life Coalition endorsed Harder when she first ran for the Conservatives in 2015 because she filled out a questionnaire saying she believed life begins at conception and would work to introduce and pass laws to ban abortion once elected.

Harder, who had dismissed the walk-out as grandstanding, was nominated in part because of her new role as Conservative critic for the status of women portfolio.