SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes has said having children outside of marriage is “wrong”.
Scotland’s finance minister had been seen as the frontrunner to replace Nicola Sturgeon as first minister.
But her campaign has been thrown into chaos after she confirmed she was against gay marriage, with several MSPs withdrawing their support.
In an interview with Sky News on Tuesday, Forbes also said “sex is for marriage”.
Forbes, a member of the Free Church of Scotland, said her view was based on her faith.
Asked about people having children outside of marriage, she said: “It’s entirely up to them. It’s something that I would seek to avoid for me personally.
“But it doesn’t fuss me, it doesn’t put me up nor down. The choices that other people make is [up to them].
“In terms of my faith, my faith would say that sex is for marriage and that’s the approach that I would practice.”
She added: “For me, it would be wrong according to my faith, but for you I have no idea what your faith is. So, in a free society you can do what you want.”
Forbes is running against health secretary Humza Yousaf and former community safety minister Ash Regan in the leadership contest.
She has also said she would not have voted for the Scottish government’s controversial Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill in its current form.
As Forbes was on maternity leave, she did not participate in the final vote before the new year but has been clear on her opposition since 2019.
Regan is also opposed to the Scottish government’s gender recognition reforms, stepping down from her role as community safety minister to enable her to vote against the legislation last year.
Yousaf has previously promised to stand by the Gender Recognition Reform Bill and challenge the Section 35 order from the UK government which seeks to block the legislation.