Under the bill, which has the support of Premier John Brumby but not some members of his cabinet, abortions will be decriminalised up to 24 weeks and after that will be legal if approved by at least two doctors.[..]

Professor Clark said he would address the meeting from a scientific and surgical perspective, and as the father of five children. "I am not an obstetrician and I am not an ethicist, but I am a brain scientist and a senior surgeon with a long experience in medicine," he said.

"I believe there is a better solution than the proposed legislation being put forward, for the welfare of the mother and the child if it survives, for the community as a whole and for the father."I took a Hippocratic oath to preserve life. I am not anti-abortion. There are times when regretfully it has to be carried out. But I am not in favour of the proposed legislation that has been put forward."