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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

To really want to say something to these abortion protestors?

999 replies

Crocodileclip · 07/03/2014 18:10

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?

OP posts:
MNHQ
YetAnotherHelenMumsnet · 07/03/2014 23:07

Apology accepted, Miss Maryz. And it was because of your evident delighted delight in your rudeness and Swing's unfortunate propensity for quotation of same.

Maryz · 07/03/2014 23:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MNHQ
YetAnotherHelenMumsnet · 07/03/2014 23:16
Smile
innisglas · 08/03/2014 06:21

A friend of mine in Dublin was personally anti-abortion but she still ended up in a fight with these rabid anti-abortionists because their horrible graphic plackards upset her small child.

They are scum

sashh · 08/03/2014 06:43

How do you know that they don't give a shit? You're making sweeping generalisations.

They don't give a shit.

I have met them. Unfortunately I am related to one. It is all about the giving birth, nothing else matters.

Original poster
Crocodileclip · 08/03/2014 07:07

Assassin, thank you very much for sharing your awful situation. I was shocked that you said you haven't been receiving any medical / social support since your diagnosis. A Health service like ours which doesn't allow abortions should have a much higher duty of care towards those it put in such horrible situations. It makes me ashamed to think you have been left without the support etc you need. Whilst no amount of support will change the end result it might at least have made it slightly more bearable for ourself and your family.

OP posts:
Original poster
Crocodileclip · 08/03/2014 07:08

Sorry 'yourself'

OP posts:
bumbleymummy · 08/03/2014 07:16

Assassin, I'm so sorry to hear about your baby.

Flock, just because someone has an opinion that you don't agree with does not make them beaters of the elderly and perpetrators of domestic violence. You don't "see" them doing those things so they mustn't do them? I guess they mustn't shit either then. Hmm

Sashh, you've met and spoke to every single one of them have you? I wonder how well it would go down if I based my opinion of an entire group of people on my knowledge of one or two of them.

differentnameforthis · 08/03/2014 08:06

This makes interesting reading

differentnameforthis · 08/03/2014 08:36

I think a woman's right to have a termination has to go hand in hand with people being allowed to protest wherever they want to.

They have no right to protest using lies & graphic images that aren't even true!

bumbleymummy · 08/03/2014 08:44

What do you mean by the graphic images not being true? Do you think they photoshop them or something?

jusdepamplemousse · 08/03/2014 08:48

Totally agree with the poster who said it's their right to be there but they are still total cunts. I see them nearly every day too. What makes me so cross as well is the intellectually lazy fall back position of a lot of people here which seems to be that they feel abortion is evil...apart from if the female in question is thirteen and a rape victim. Hmm

The situation in NI makes my blood boil. Not only is abortion available only to 9 weeks BUT you also have to satisfy the condition that continuing with the pregnancy poses a serious or long term threat to the pregnant woman's physical or mental health. Due to this abortions are nigh on unheard of in the NHS here. So add in to that the fact that you can really only access this service if you can pay the fairly hefty fee charged by Marie Stopes ( which is completely justified, and I think they're a wonderful organisation, just pointing out the inequality).

I cannot understand why anyone thinks it is their business to police other peoples' bodies.

Add into this mix the pathetic sexual health services available in NI and therefore limited options for anyone seeking contraceptive services who won't see their GP (teenagers mostly) and it's just a big massive stick our heads in the sand mess.

FreudiansSlipper · 08/03/2014 08:54

anyone who is able to feel empathy will say they do not have a right to make women feel guilty over a decision they are making regarding their own body

right to freedom of expression does not mean people have the right to protest deliberately to cause upset and hurt towards others which is their intention

sadly the law is complex so those that do not give a fuck do so

pommedeterre · 08/03/2014 08:54

It's really crap. I had an abortion in a very catholic country where abortion is legal (difficult unless you an flash the cash but legal). The staff doing the procedure were horrendous to me bar one lovely male gyno.

It's such an emotional thing anyway without all that shite. Other peoples beliefs have NOTHING to do with my body and it is so unfair to do that to vulnerable women.

bumbleymummy · 08/03/2014 08:54

"I cannot understand why anyone thinks it is their business to police other peoples' bodies. "

Pro lifers feel that way about the foetus' body.

Why do 13 year old tape victims always come into the equation? What percentage of abortions actually fall into that category? It's equivalent to pro-lifers bringing up women who have late term abortions for things like a cleft palate.

bumbleymummy · 08/03/2014 08:55

rape*

bumbleymummy · 08/03/2014 08:57

"right to freedom of expression does not mean people have the right to protest deliberately to cause upset and hurt towards others which is their intention"

So people only have the right to protest as long as it isn't upsetting anyone?

jusdepamplemousse · 08/03/2014 08:58

Bumbley I think a lot of the images used are entirely fabricated. Just logically how would they have access to medical waste following a procedure to take pictures? Plus they invariably appear to 'depict' (to the extent that they actually truly depict anything) foetuses in the very late stages of pregnancy. Pre 9 weeks, well there just isn't much to see.

MadAsFish · 08/03/2014 09:01

What do you mean by the graphic images not being true? Do you think they photoshop them or something?

They lie by claiming their pictures of nearly term babies are very early pics, so you're terminating a whole baby, you evil murdering bastard. They do not care about post-birth children, or they would be a whole lot more prominent in campaigns for better welfare, which they categorically are not.
I'm actually gobsmacked that you're even arguing this, though given prior history, I suppose I shouldn't be.

FreudiansSlipper · 08/03/2014 09:02

because some people feel abortion is only ok, in other words women or girls can only have autonomy over their own body under certain circumstances

you are either pro choice or your are not. pro choice is exactly that and so is pro life

its to ease people conscience that is why remarks such as well if she was raped abortion is ok

FreudiansSlipper · 08/03/2014 09:06

people have the right to protest

but when it is to deliberately cause harm, which is their intention to make those who make that choice to have a termination then yes it is wrong

jusdepamplemousse · 08/03/2014 09:06

Bumbley I don't really follow your paragraph on the cleft palate / rape victim thing but suffice to say the point I was making was the intellectual laziness of many peoples' rationale as to when abortion is ok or not. So they think - 'you're reasons are economic, you're evil' / 'you were raped? Oh well in this case you're not evil'. Totally agree that very few real life scenarios like this (comparitively speaking) occur.

SauceForTheGander · 08/03/2014 09:06

Women should be able to go for abortions without harassment, intimidation and judgement.

When will these protesters masquerading as caring people get it into their heads it's none of their business.

You just need to listen to the "advice" given in Crisis pregnancy clinics in the UK (uncovered by Brooks and Education for choice) to know that anti abortionists tell outright lies to stop women making informed choices. This was featured on BBC radio 4 woman's hour on the 12/2/2014 if you want to google. Women actually told that having an abortion put them at risk of becoming a child abuser to their future DCs.

These people are scum. They have no right to spread their lies.

jusdepamplemousse · 08/03/2014 09:07

*your

sashh · 08/03/2014 09:22

What do you mean by the graphic images not being true? Do you think they photoshop them or something?

In the dim distant past the pictures on my school wall were of a black bin liner filled with full term babies.

That has never happened in the UK. I'm fairly sure it has never happened anywhere.