Politician Gay Mitchell is wishing he bit his tongue back in 1998 when he compared abortion to the horrors that took place in Nazi concentration camps.

He announced earlier this week, that he regretted likening the practice of abortion to the horrific events that took place during the holocaust, although his spokesman later confirmed that Mitchell remained opponent to abortion.

In 1998, the presidential hopeful gave a speech on abortion at a conference held by an aid agency named Trocaire.

During the speech he read aloud the testimony of a survivor of a concentration camp, saying that the survivor had seen:

"Gas chambers built by learned engineers, children poisoned by educated physicians, infants killed by trained nurses, and women and babies shot and burned by high school and college graduates."

He then continued to highlight the said similarities by saying:

"The above quote in relation to the concentration camps could easily apply to the millions of abortions which needlessly take place year after year," Mitchell said.

The Independent reported that the revelation of such statement came about from last week’s discovery that Mitchell was seeking clemency for an anti-abortion campaigner who killed a doctor and his bodyguard outside of an abortion clinic with a shotgun.

Mitchell promised that if he could find them, he would release copies of the letters he sent pleading for the two criminals on death row to be pulled from execution.

He also said he hated the crimes of both men and had written the letters because of his opposition to the death penalty.

"In particular, I don't think I know how someone who's pro-life can take somebody else's life. I think that's absolutely outrageous," he told the LMFM radio station.

Gay Mitchell was chosen to contest in the presidential election for Fine Gael and will run will run in the election this autumn.
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