Barnaby Joyce uses baby son to slap down NSW abortion bill
Barnaby Joyce weighed into the abortion issue this afternoon in federal parliament, where he said removing his son’s human rights through abortion would be “to say he must be subhuman”.
NSW
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Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has used the birth of his latest son Tom to slap down a bill to decriminalise abortion in NSW.
The New England MP weighed into the issue this afternoon in federal parliament, where he said removing his son’s human rights through abortion would be “to say he must be subhuman”.
He also said he “never owned” his son and that he was “more than a property right”.
“When Tom took his first breath, this was not the start of his life — the reality is he was part of this world for some time and was merely passing from one room to another,” Mr Joyce said.
“We have and have had absolute responsibility to Tom but we never owned him … he was a person, he attained this indivisible right to being alive long before he was born.
“Tom had rights even though he was not conscious of them — they should not be removed by parliament … he committed no crime.”
Mr Joyce also said his son was “certainly seen in real, human form” on ultrasound scans.
“Inside the womb Tom kicked, punched, grabbed his umbilical cord, felt pain, slept and dreamed,” he said.
“To say he didn’t have the rights of other human life is to say he must be subhuman.
“I don’t believe that any person, any doctor, any parliament has the power today to declassify another person as less than human and by so doing removing their most fundamental right to be alive.
“In the NSW Parliament they are debating whether Tom had no classification to human rights.”
