Canberra, Australia, Nov 19, 2018 / 17:01 pm
After being slammed for his religion and told he would never understand abortion because it is a women's issue, Australian senator Barry O'Sullivan declared himself a woman before parliament last week so that he could speak about abortion issues.
"I'm going to declare my gender today, as I can, to be a woman, and then you'll no longer be able to attack me," O'Sullivan told fellow representatives at parliament Nov. 14.
The declaration was part of longer and heated remarks given by the senator, who said he was tired of the "vomit" and "vitriol" he received from far-right colleagues whenever he tried to raise "issues around strong values."
Earlier that week, O'Sullivan, a Catholic, had motioned for pro-choice protesters to be banned from the annual pro-life Day of the Unborn Child events. This prompted Larissa Waters of the Australian Greens party to say that O'Sullivan would never understand abortion as a women's issue.