Equality Bill — Report

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 5:15 pm on 2 March 2010.

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Photo of Baroness Morris of Bolton Baroness Morris of Bolton - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions) (Also Shadow Minister for Women), Health, Shadow Minister, Work and Pensions 5:15, 2 March 2010

My Lords, I too declare an interest as a Roman Catholic and vice-president of the Catholic Union of Great Britain. I say to the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, who I thought argued her case beautifully, as one would expect, that the Conservative Party is broad-minded and that we have always considered these issues to be issues of conscience and therefore subject to free votes. Therefore, what I am going to say is my personal view. I shall be brief because these are weighty issues coming very late in the Bill right at the end of the legislative process.

As my noble friend Lord Patten said, Catholic adoption agencies had a worldwide reputation for the work they did in placing some of the most damaged and vulnerable children. One reason why they had great success is that they were supported by the Catholic community in the parishes. Their aftercare was second to none. That was why they had good results. For the Catholic Church, the issue was not about sexual orientation, but about sex outside marriage. It was the same for heterosexual couples.

At one stage, my husband and I very nearly adopted from the Catholic adoption agencies. In the end, we decided not to, and I became pregnant. There was a young boy who did not want full-time adoption. He just wanted a family that would have him at the weekend because he wanted a ferret. A ferret was all he wanted in life. We considered long and hard whether we could give him a home at the weekend and give him a ferret. In the end, we decided not to. I have often thought long and hard about that young man. I hope he did get his ferret and I hope he got it in a loving Catholic home.