LifeSiteNews founded by Campaign Life Coalition
History
LifeSiteNews was founded in 1997 by the Canadian political lobbyist organization Campaign Life Coalition with the intent to promote anti-abortion views. At a 2013 March for Life Youth Conference in Ottawa, founder and editor-in-chief John-Henry Westen alleged there was a media conspiracy against the anti-abortion movement, and said that the purpose of LifeSiteNews was to circumvent the mainstream media.A Catholic priest and former member of the Canadian Parliament, Raymond Gravel, filed a defamation lawsuit in Quebec against the website in 2011. He claimed that the site's description of his self-described pro-choice views as "pro-abortion" was libelous, and sought CA$500,000 in damages. LifeSiteNews had published 41 articles about Gravel as of February 2013. In 2013, the lawsuit was allowed to advance to trial by a Quebec court. Gravel died of lung cancer on August 11, 2014.LifeSiteNews claimed in 2018 to have a readership of 20 million. Its editor-in-chief is John-Henry Westen, and the president is Steve Jalsevac. The Campaign Life Coalition no longer runs LifeSiteNews, though the two groups share some board members.
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