AIBU to think the "40 Days for Life" campaigners are utterly immoral

[technodad]

news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9705000/9705877.stm

HalfPastWine

Do you not think the clinics will offer support and information to help women choose what is best.

The idea that they are fulfilling some sort of "service" is just a bullshit excuse for their harassment!

If they want to "save children" there are far greater numbers affected by famine and war elsewhere in the world that could be saved by more morale use of their time!

How are their actions not classed as a technical assault? Verbal intimidation and harassment/sticking a camera in someone's face and threatening to "out" them on youtube is assault, surely? Breach of privacy too?

The best way is to get people to counter protest - facebook campaign?

Sick, sick people. Not only do they not care about the women, they don't care about the child or the existing children. If they really cared, they would be spending their time providing and promoting respite/foster care, money and MH support instead of haranguing vulnerable women at a difficult time.

Their supposed concern for the unborn masks their real need to hate and feel superior to others.

Well said Dione.

technodad I hear what you're saying but everyone has the right to quiet, peaceful campaigning. And individuals have the right of anonimity. Approaching them with literature is acceptable however when it becomes vocal is when it starts crossing the line imo.

Halfpastwine- do you think that these women qr deciding tonhave an abortion without considering the options? Abortion is the least worst option. And being handed a leaflet by some loon is just going to make the whole thing even worse. And all that crap about showing them the love.....I'm angry all over again now.

seeker I do think that women have thought through the options before proceeding abortion. This thread is not about their journey to making that final decision. All I am saying is that this is a group who have a belief and are campaigning about it. As the women have the right to abortion so do the group have the right to campaign. How they carry out there campaign is what is being questioned here.

I don't understand the in your post half past wine ?

I was speaking from my experience, where the sadly too many women I know/ knew were either single and had experienced so called date rape or were in abusive relationships and realised that they would not could not bring a child in to an abusive relationship, or another child because they were trying to leave, and having been ground down were on benefits for a while.

Maybe I expressed myself badly what I was trying to say was there is a lot if support/ money for the anti-abortionist, but no money for victim support/council ing / PND help/ housing/ nappies/ nursery, day care fees/ legal fees/ etc etc.

They most certainly do not have the right to hold up placards, or approach women or film women. The first teo them mightnbe legally entitled to, butntherenis no moral justification at all for increasing somebody dp's distress. Outragoeous.

HalfPastWine

You make it sound like they are on a par with double glazing salesmen "handing out literature". If that was their objective then they could leave some literature on the table in the clinic and the fuck off. But they don't, the force themselves on people who are suffering and lay on the guilt, at a time when the individuals visiting the clinic are at their most vulnerable.

I would be interested in what "support" they actually provide for the 18+ years after their initial "help" at the clinic. I am sure they do lots of praying for the women.....

If they want to campaign, why don't they do it at parliament? These people are not protesting injustice or law, that are targeting vulnerable women in difficult positions in order to make themselves feel superior.

but no money for victim support/council ing / PND help/ housing/ nappies/ nursery, day care fees/ legal fees/ etc etc.

I'll agree with you there.

What I also feel is that as well as the energy the campaigners are putting into changing the minds of the women having abortions, equal if not more of their energy should be input to promoting support for women who as a result of abusive relationships and similar have found themselves in such a vulnerable position.

seeker They most certainly do not have the right to hold up placards, or approach women or film women.

Hold placards....yes they do have a right

Film women ....absolutely not.

Outside the BBC, I regularly see groups campaigning and some of the placards they hold up are unbelievable and I question how they do get away with it!!! Clearly they do so it must be legal. But, doesn't make it morally correct.

Oh come on half. Your use of the word 'right' is tenuous at least. People have the 'right' to protest against corporations and governments. A crowd of people Targeting individuals' actions is bullying, pure and simple.

There must be some privacy law against filming, surely? Like, CCTV cameras have to have signs saying why they are capturing images, there have been prosecutions for people taking indecent images - there must be some legal way of stopping the dissemination of the filming, if not the filming itself?

wilson If you read my previous post I have said that the filming of the women is totally out of order, I don't agree with this, they have a right to anonimity.

But you also said that the protestors have the right to protest outside clinics, which I totally disagree with. They have a right to anonymity, and a right to seek medical treatment without having to run a gauntlet of harassment.

But clearly they do have the right, it's not me saying they do, it's the law isn't it otherwise they would have been moved on by the police today wouldn't they.

Nobody with any decency would demonstrate outside the clinic anyway. Don't you agree, halfpastwine ?

The quote from their spokesperson that made me want to break the radio this morning was the "there is no evidence that continuing with an unwanted pregnancy threatens the mental health of the mother" (or words to that effect) one. What the actual fuck???? Seriously???

Protesting outside clinics does nothing but victimize those who work in or use the facility.

I don't think anyone would agree that intimidation is the decent thing to do however when someone is passionate about their cause they will try most things to have their voice heard. We see it day in day out with all sorts of groups, EDL, extremists groups etc.

^^ missed a couple of words, service users have the right to use the service without harassment and the people who work there have the right to go to work without harassment. Handing literature out and intercepting women and workers is harassment, therefore protesters should be moved on. I imagine the service users aren't really in a space where they want to phone the police though.

But the EDL aren't allowed to protest outside mosques.

I think the behaviour of many groups cross the line of common decency. I remember when a group burnt the remembrance poppy. I personally found that offensive.