David Norris (Independent)

Senator Mullen's honeyed words put me in mind of the fact that in recent days the Vatican has appointed the Rome correspondent of Fox News, who is also a member of Opus Dei, as their chief spin doctor. I welcome a debate but I remind the House that coating poison with honey does not make it any more palatable.

In his very thoughtful speech, Senator Bradford said that the control of language is highly significant in this issue. I am horrified that people should still peddle the idea that some people are pro-abortion or their tails are up and all this kind of stuff. I am not pro-abortion and I strongly object to anybody taking over the label "pro-life". I am pro-life. There are only a few people, like Pol Pot and the rest of them, who are not pro-life. I notice another little seepage in language where people, such as those in the Iona Institute, describe themselves as pro-family. It may come as a surprise that I emerged from a human family and I am pro-family. I am not apologising to anybody about it. I publicly condemned what occurred in China, and while I applauded the Chinese Government for facing the fact the world population is an explosive situation, the woman in question was violated and that is a different matter. I am pro-choice because I think there are certain circumstances such as the rape of a 14 year old girl-----