Tony Abbott warns women against sex before marriage

Tony Abbott warns women against sex before marriage | News.com.au

TONY Abbott warns women against sex before marriage and reveals mixed feelings about contraception, in a new interview.

After conducting a charm offensive over the summer break and rejecting suggestions his conservative social views were a turnoff to women, the Liberal leader has been subjected to a grilling in the next edition of the Australian Women's Weekly about his views on sex, marriage and his own daughters' virginity.

The new Liberal leader is understood to have suggested men and women should try and adhere to “the rules” when it comes to sex before marriage and when they can't he has conceded they should use contraception, The Australian reports.


But the former Catholic seminarian, who famously struggled with the issue of sex before marriage as a young man, reveals he is ambivalent towards contraception.

He says it has been at least as liberating for men as for women, suggesting some women are being taken advantage of as a result.

Mr Abbott is also asked about whether he expects his own daughters to remain virgins until they are married and says all women should regard their virginity as “a gift” that should not be given lightly.

For 25 years, the Sydney MP secretly believed he fathered a son with his university girlfriend and has previously conceded he is a “pretty lousy role model” when it comes to avoiding pre-marital sex.

His “son” Daniel was later revealed to be child of another man. And his university girlfriend Kathy Donnelly revealed in the pair's struggle not to be “sexual” they were not using contraception when they had sex.

“Tony and I because we were trying not to be sexual - that was the year Tony was thinking about entering the priesthood - we were playing Vatican roulette,” Ms Donnelly said.

On the subject of contraception, Mr Abbott told the ABC in 2005: “Look if people are going to do things which have certain consequences that they would rather avoid, they should do whatever they need avoid the consequences” and urged his daughters to be cautious in sexual matters.

“Well they should be very careful about doing things that they might regret and doing things that might in the long run cause them to have less self respect and less respect for others than might be the case. Now the last thing I could say to my kids is, `You could never do this or never do that', because they'll rightfully say, `Well you did that so you're a pretty lousy role model'.”