To really want to say something to these abortion protestors?

[Crocodileclip]

Firstly, I know I will probably never say anything as I appreciate that the protestors have the right to protest but it really pisses me off.

A small group of people have been protesting outside the Marie Stoppes clinic in Belfast since it opened in 2012. They stand outside the door on the days it is open holding anti abortion posters and trying to gather signatures for a petition. I pass them on my way to get to the station at home time and every time it annoys me. I can't imagine how offputting they would be if you were young and scared and just wanting some advice. Lots of pics of aborted foetuses etc. I find it intimidating enough myself and I am just walking past. I actually put my head down and walk quicker so that nobody asks me to sign the petition.

I'm currently pregnant with my second and am lucky never to have been in a position where abortion was an option but am of the opinion that there are situations in which it may be the best option available.

The clinic itself operates within NI law so only offers abortions up to 9 weeks and as far as I know is the only such clinic in Northern Ireland. I think I would be ok with the protestors doing their stuff elsewhere in the city centre it is the fact that it is just outside the only entrance to the clinc that makes me irrationally angry. Does this happen at other Marie Stoppes clinics elsewhere in the UK?

bumbleymummy

Over the years I have personally met and spoken to about 1000, so not one or two.

I have come across many many more on line, on Tv, on radio.

I will say this slowly They do not give a shit.

It's all about 'the poor babies', regardless of the woman's personal circumstances.

If I were to go out and kill a person,for no reason, I would be tried for murder and in some places executed.

If a foetus does the same it is 'tragic'. In the opinion of these protesters a foetus has more rights than an adult human.

The people I have spoken with would say that if a woman is being killed by her pregnancy then the 'only thing to do' is pray, I believe there are a number of options and that prayer is the least effective.

Are the bags for disposal of medical waste?

No, medical waste is disposed of in red or yellow bags.

Do you honestly think the result of a late term abortion is put in a black bin bag, unsealed and then sent to the next hospital for them to put the result in? Actually not all of the result of the termination, just the bit that looks human.

Because there are so few late term abortions that is what would have to happen, it would take about a year to fill an average bin liner.

In an ideal world these children would be given up for adoption.

What a horrible ideal world.

A woman's right to choose what happens to her body outweighs an embryo's imaginary 'right' to potentially maybe develop into a foetus, and that foetus' potential 'right' to potentially maybe become a baby. Every time.

And I say that as someone who has chosen not to abort an unplanned pregnancy. People always assume I'll be pro-life/anti-choice because of that, but it's made me want to defend the right to choose all the more. I don't consider myself any better or worse than any other woman because of the choice I made compared to the choice any other woman might make.

If people want to protest for change, they should do it outside a government building/office. Even if I disagree with them, they have the right to make their voice heard by those who have the power to change things.

People protesting outside of abortion clinics are there solely to make women feel bad for retaining autonomy and control over their body and their life, and those protesters should be treated like the low-life scum they are.

I would love to hear from a protester who has had the devastating news that their child was going to be born in constant pain with catastrophic disabilities. I would love to hear from one who has had the news that they were pregnant at 14, raped by their father and living in poverty. I have seen them and believe me the ones I saw were not quietly handing out leaflets. As for Irish legislation that forces women to leave their own country in order to terminate a longed for baby well that just sickens me. Even more so when I hear middle class, middle aged male politicians telling those women that that is their only option in a lovely catholic country like Ireland.

The protestors do not care about the women going into the clinics.
I feel so sorry for my relatives in NI who cannot access an abortion on the NHS. One of my relatives has travelled to England for a private abortion, the cost of that plus flights, hotel, and the loneliness of having the procedure without friends or family for support, the worry of having to seek any after-care back home in NI if there were any complications, all added to her stress.

My mum had always been pro-life until a friend in NI was pregnant with a baby that wouldn't survive (anencephaly) and was not able to get an abortion in NI. She was carrying twins. To continue with the pregnancy would have meant greater risk for her healthy child. The absolute lack of medical attention available is ridiculous.
Sending to BabyFacedAssassin.

An embryo or foetus is not a person.
I am pro choice under whatever circumstances that a woman doesn't want a baby. As a pp said in an ideal world there would be no unwanted pregnancies.

Gosh is this still going?

No neither a foetus nor embryo is a person. A person is in law, I believe someone with agency and self awareness. A foetus has neither if these things and is not under UK law a person.

Also the point about where they are protesting.

I am quite opposed to halal meat, say*. I lobby the relevant govt dept for a change in the law to make it illegal. Well and good.

I stand outside a butchers in Leeds with a sig saying "you Muslims should be ashamed of yourselves" and holding grainy pictures of bleeding animals, and shout things at passing schoolgirls in headscarves.... Fucking goady, hateful, and all about getting at a group of people who are making a different choice to me.

Most people would say the last eg is blatantly islamophobic or racist. Well then, the clinic picketing is misogynistic. Misogyny is one of the last few acceptable prejudices.

*dont actually have strong feelings about this btw.

Yes revolting misogyny should be a hate crime like racism and homophobia and rape and sexual assault should be considered hate crimes.

Yanbu at all, I would have had to say something.

Its pointless trying to debate with them tho, same on here with some pro life posters. What on earth makes people think they can tell women what to do with their bodies?!!

assassin I am so sorry to hear what you are going through. I admire your strength and will look out for your thread. Thinking of you and your family xxx

The 'baby' can not survive without the womb.

The womb is part of a women, it is her with the rights.

Do prolifers who in the name of religion do these protest not go to the GP for antibotics or do not go to hospital or have any medical treatment.

Because it is my opinion that you shouldn't pick and choose the part of the religion you like, it's all or nothing.

In an ideal world there would be no young girls getting pregnant, there would be no rape and incest, there would be no foetuses who were not compatible. In an ideal world mothers would not die in childbirth and would have the life experience and good history to being up a child after getting pregnant at a time of their choosing. An ideal world does not necessitate adoption because bad things don't happen and because we do not live in an ideal world we do the best we can using adoption and abortion where they are necessary and the best outcome in the given circumstances.

It's not only young girls who have unwanted pregnancy though.

Freudian,

"thankfully the law the law does not take into account the thoughts and feelings of others other than the woman who is pregnant"

Only up to 24 weeks in the UK.

differentnameforthis,
" Do they not think that a woman knows what the foetus inside her looks like?"

Obviously some of them don't given the use of the 'bundle of cells' description time and time again.

Flock, I still think it's ridiculous to equate 'pro-life' with 'beater of the elderly' but if that's the way you think then there's not really much else to say to you.

sash
"If I were to go out and kill a person,for no reason, I would be tried for murder and in some places executed."

As far as they are concerned, you are killing a person when you have an abortion.

But their definition if a person is very flawed and they are limiting the power a woman has over her own body. This by default increases the power a man has over a women's body.

This makes women second class citizens and less important than the fetus.

But their definition if a person is very flawed and they are limiting the power a woman has over her own body. This by default increases the power a man has over a women's body.

This makes women second class citizens and less important than the fetus.

bumbleymummy

Then, in the nicest possible way, their opinion is wrong, they are deluded and they should fuck off and stop making women feel bad. If they wanted change they'd be picketing outside government buildings; they're doing it because they get a sick thrill out of kicking people when they're down.

You are very welcome to disagree with their opinion. They are still entitled to it and they are entitled to protest against something that they think is wrong. They probably do it because they are hoping that some women will change their minds and some do.

As far as they are concerned, you are killing a person when you have an abortion.

Then why do so many anti abortionists, particularly in places like the USA, support the death penalty?

I guess they see the person on death row as a guilty person who chose to commit a serious crime and therefore deserves to die and the foetus as an innocent person who has done nothing wrong and does not deserve to be punished by death.

So they are allowed to make judgements on the value of life, and in situations where they approve it is fine to kill someone. So then they really are just hypocrites who want to punish women aren't they?

I understand their motivations but they do not have the right to peddle their bias close to an abortion clinic where women and girls are going - it's intimidating and these women are committing no crime. I think there should be an exclusion zone around clinics. These protesters behave appallingly.

If the anti abortionists don't like it then tough - it's none of their business. They should as has been said - take it up with their MP.

Bumbley in my experience the vast majority of anti abortion protestors I have encountered believe the unborn foetus' souls are stained with original sin. One sin is the same as another in the eyes of god he does not have a graduated scale that was why babies used not go to heaven and all the other nonsense that has been spouted over the years adds yadda yadda

I think most of the people on death row are male basgetti...

anothernumberone, so do they think the baby needs to be born in order to be baptised so it can go to heaven then? I haven't come across people with that reasoning before.

I'm talking about punishing women by denying them abortions. If their objection to abortion is that it takes a life yet they show little regard to life that isn't residing in another person's womb, what other explanation is there?

I offered a possible one on my last post - ie that the person had made a choice, committed a crime, deserved to be punished for it. Foetus has not.