To think this isn't very nice ? ( Pro-life protestors)

[chattycaterpillar]

I am pregnant, 11 weeks, first pregnancy. Like all first time mother's, I am very worried about miscarriage.

Anyway, my booking appointment was changed to a phone appointment cos I had Covid at the time of the appointment. The midwife arranged for me to come in today, ( a week or so after isolation finished), so I could get my bloods/ Blood Pressure/ urine sample done etc.

The maternity centre is based in a community hospital that has a variety of NHS Community/ outpatient services attached, ( acute/ emergency treatments are at the main hospital across town). But the community hospital has maternity outpatients, mental health teams, counselling, STI testing, audiology, physiotherapy , dermatology services attached to it. It also has BPAS abortion clinic inside, ( which I didn't realise until this morning).

Anyway , a short distance from the hospital, when I was going in, there were about 8 signs with the most horrific images , ( very large), of dead foetus's etc. I had a leaflet thrust in my hand and the images, well for someone worrying about miscarriage, they were very upsetting.

AIBU to say whilst I understand termination is a controversial issue, it's completely out of order to force these images on members of the public ?

The midwife who did my bloods etc said I wasn't the first person who'd been upset by it, and that there was also a recurrent miscarriage clinic being run at the hospital so she imagined it would cause a lot of upset.

Never mind a vulnurable teenager or rape victim walking into the BPAS clinic being forced to see these images ?

I got talking to a lady in the waiting room who said she had experienced a stillbirth a few months before and found being confronted by these images incredibly distressing.

A few years ago I was told at a 20 week scan at St Thomas's that my baby had died and then dispatched home for the weekend, awaiting admittance on a Monday.

I got the 159 bus home and as it got to the top of Brixton Hill it drew level with a load of protesters on the pavement outside the BPAS there. The lights changed and I was sat on this bus looking at a picture of a dead 20 week old foetus, knowing mine was dead inside me.

It was some special kind of torture, and I'll never forget that moment.

Relentless, I'm so sorry that happened to you, that's absolutely horrendous. Sending you all the best wishes

And flowers to everyone else on this thread who have been affected by these kind of arsehole protesters

Reading these stories from pps is heartbreaking. Such fanatics shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near clincs or hospitals. There have been endless petitions attempting to persuade the government to do something about this.

In those circumstances I'd suggest to the protestors that they use the images of live babies in utero and avoid the ones of dead babies.

@MumsMetHer

In those circumstances I'd suggest to the protestors that they use the images of live babies in utero and avoid the ones of dead babies.

I still think live photos could be distressing to those who have experienced miscarriage/ stillbirth/ ectopic pregnancy etc

For those of us who have suffered a miscarriage this kind of image can leave us feeling physically sick. How can people do this?

Relentless I am so sorry

We have an exclusion zone in Ealing after a strong local campaign. I wish more national action was taken. They can still protest but some distance from the clinic so women can avoid the protesters.

These are people trying to shame women for accessing a legal medical service - it is deeply misogynistic and regressive.

thank you @Waitwhat23 and @LadyGnome

Scum. What I want to ask them is what exactly do they personally do to support unwanted born children. Because anyone holding up placards and intimidating people into giving birth to babies they don’t want needs to be responsible for the babies. Are they fostering? Adopting? Or do they give no shits whatsoever about the children after birth?

@MumsMetHer

In those circumstances I'd suggest to the protestors that they use the images of live babies in utero and avoid the ones of dead babies.

I'd suggest they stop altogether.

It's just women-hating. Controlling abusive behaviour.

Many years ago I had a woman thrust her tiny (what looked to be) new born at me to "show me what I was destroying" when walking into a clinic, luckily I caught it, supported it's head and neck properly and gently handed it back, the poor mite was screaming it's head off unsurprisingly. Fucking nutter.

@TonyBravo

Many years ago I had a woman thrust her tiny (what looked to be) new born at me to "show me what I was destroying" when walking into a clinic, luckily I caught it, supported it's head and neck properly and gently handed it back, the poor mite was screaming it's head off unsurprisingly. Fucking nutter.

That's awful @TonyBravo :(

I went to Manchester to a private clinic with my DH who was getting a vasectomy. The clinic also offered terminations.

On walking the door and waiting to be let in we were approached by two men with leaflets like the posters you describe.

I told them they should be ashamed of themselves for all the good it did. They still kept on trying to shove the leaflets at us.

They should be moved on every single time by the police it's awful.

Absolutely disgusting. Three years ago I had a TFMR and it was the worst thing I’ve ever been through. I was devastated and I had the procedure at a BPAS clinic as my hospital couldn’t offer me a surgical termination. Thankfully I didn’t encounter any of this but if I had it would have made what was already a harrowing experience even worse. If they’d tried to give any of their literature to me I think my DH would probably have punched them. They can fuck right off and it’s completely unacceptable that they aren’t moved on immediately by the hospitals and/or police.

I work in the main hospital in Glasgow and there are “religious” anti abortion protestors every day of Lent every year. There have been people that counter protest but not as frequently as the protestors themselves. Right outside the maternity entrance but not on hospital property so nothing can be done.

The whole thing reminds me of an old school friend of mine.

He regularly posts "unborn lives matter," "stop the murder," statuses, but also posts about "benefit scum," so presumably doesn't want to increase benefits to help women in difficult circumstances continue a pregnancy.

He also got fired from his job for an "inappropriate relationship," with a 15 year old, ( very inappropriate messages to 15 year old about his own marriage). It is widely known locally that he was in a sexual relationship with her, ( her family have now moved her away from the area). I wonder if she got pregnant, how keen he would be for her to keep the baby as evidence of his illegal activities ?

In fact, his sister experiencing an ectopic pregnancy didn't stop him sharing photos of dead babies the very weekend she had emergency surgery for it.

Funnily enough, I saw some pro lifers on my way into work today. They are not usually there so it must be some push. Usually I am live and let live, but I can't deny I wished violence upon them.

Good luck with your life choices 🍀🍀🍀🍀

There seems to be a lot of comments on our town Facebook page,. I'd say about 70 % of the commenters say they've found it unnecessary/ unhelpful to see such graphic images outside the hospital, ( including someone who said she was attending for a physio session, but had a stillbirth 3 years ago and ended up bursting into tears in physio due to images).

However, from what I can gather from the comments, it's a goal to be there for the 40 days of lent, ( which shows my ignorance, as I thought lent was about giving up chocolate for 40 days after Pancake Day !) And a couple of comments, ( albeit in the minority), that if these pictures cause a few women to turn around and not have an abortion, then potentially 10 or so lives could be saved over Lent and we should be grateful for that.

Clearly a complex issue, but I don't think 40 days of standing outside a hospital with such graphic / upsetting images is going to help anybody.

Incidentally, for balance, I would probably happily donate to causes that provided benefits advice, housing, careers/ employment rights advice, baby equipment, peer to peer support to help women keep crisis pregnancies and thrive. To me, that seems a much better way of helping to reduce abortions than standing outside a hospital with pictures of dead babies and causing distress and upset to everyone going in.

My pregnancy with DS started with a miscarriage so it was still very raw. This would have devastated me. And they're showing zero respect for those poor little babies to be displaying their pictures like this.

As an aside, how do they get hold of these pictures ? Sounds a stupid question but I highly doubt BPAS/ the NHS are taking these photos and releasing it to them .

YANBU
I think pro-lifers who do this should be arrested and charged for harassment/anti-social behaviour charges. They disgust me.

@MumsMetHer

In those circumstances I'd suggest to the protestors that they use the images of live babies in utero and avoid the ones of dead babies.

@MumsMetHer I’d suggest to them that they fuck off! They have no right to try and bombard and harass women. It’s controlling, women-hating abuse. If it was men in this situation you can guarantee they’d be some some sort of law or sanction preventing pro-lifers from doing it