OTTAWA — Justice Minister Rob Nicholson says his Conservative government will not reopen the abortion debate, but it will penalize offenders who endanger the lives of pregnant women.

Nicholson says he will introduce new legislation that will include a victim's pregnancy as an aggravating factor when judges consider sentencing violent offenders.

But the justice minister says the new law will be written in such a way that it cannot influence the abortion debate and legal interpretations of the rights of the unborn.

He says the proposed legislation would expand the list of factors judges consider in the sentencing process to include pregnancy.

A woman's right to choose was settled when the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the country's abortion laws in 1988.

Critics have expressed concerns the Conservative government would reopen the debate if it introduced new laws that take into account unborn children who are victimized by violent crime.