To think the tactics of CBR UK are disgusting? Trigger warning - pro life.

[MistressoftheDarkSide]

I've been seething since Saturday when I encountered the organisation CBR UK on one of the busiest parts of our town centre.

CBR UK are a fundamental pro-life organisation claiming to have the interests of women traumatised by abortion at heart. Actually their roots are in the US and are underpinned by fundamentalist Christian beliefs.

Their way of educating and supporting women is to display 6 x 8 feet technicolor pictures of the aftermath of abortion in full view of women and children to get their point across.

A look at their Facebook page will prove to you I am not making this up. They place a warning sign ahead if the images, and also warn that they live film their activities, but it's obviously lip service.

They hand out leaflets and try to engage people

I challenged one of the very smug beatific older woman and suggested they must really hate women, but no, it's because they love and want to protect us apparently. And "God" - which slipped out as I took my leave and she called out God bless you. To which I responded how dare you bring God into this - and her parry was - why do you hate him that much?

Anyway, I'm posting this to make you aware that you might come up against this while doing your Christmas shopping.

Whatever your views on abortion, (Mine are pro choice and pro it's noone else's Goddamn business except a woman and her doctor) can we agree that this kind of "awareness raising" is almost psychological terrorism and should not be on our high streets in such graphic forms?

Women who have been rated, suffered traumatic medical miscarriages and are possibly accompanied by curious children don't need this shit rubbed in their faces while doing their Christmas shopping - or at any time.

AIBU?

@PaperDreamsHoney how awful.

Misinformation is so dangerous, as your example demonstrates.

Thank you for that. It puts into words all the issues I have with the Anti-choice campaigners.

Virtue signalling at its most empty and damaging.

Mine was over 20 years ago I was a teenager but IIRC I was given antibiotics and painkillers to go home with and the ward number to call for any complications that might arise. I was also offered a counselling referral but didn’t want to take it. I did produce milk afterwards, loads of it, called the ward and was prescribed something to stop it. My friends got the same but one did take counselling. One asked one of her midwives if she judged her and she said she never ever judges anyone, and if she ever did she wouldn’t be fit for the job. It was reassuring to hear for both of us.

Couldnt ask for better really.

So how explicit should the pictures be and where should they be seen? Not outside Lidl. But I wasn’t there.

The pictures are very explicit. Dismembered foetuses in a bin. Loads of pictures. In my town, they're outside the Greggs on the pedestrian precinct.

@EvilsElsasPetSnowman thanks for the reply. About 35 yrs ago, I picked up my friend after her abortion. She didn’t get any of that support you were offered afterwards. It seemed quite brutal in that they got her in and then out. I think all she brought home with her was her overnight bag.
Im glad you got what you needed and offered more if you wanted it. And I appreciate you answering.

You are entitled to your opinion. But my opinion is that abortion has been a net negative for women.

Not only is abortion a net positive for women, it's also a net positive for society. There's a theory that the fall in the crime rate in the US was linked to Roe vs Wade. Years after, unwanted children were traumatised, criminal adults. R vs W meant they weren't there and therefore the crime rate fell. It's correlation not causation but fortunately the US is running the experiment in reverse so we should know the answer in about 15-18 years.

It's also worth saying that in countries without safe, fee, legal abortion, there are MORE abortions. There are fewer in countries where women have rights and healthcare. So these arseholes only want to ban safe abortion. Which proves it's about hating women, not loving babies.

A girl my dad knew died after a backstreet abortion in the 50's, it was awful the family were shunned by their neighbours when the truth came out & had to move house. I'm glad that we now have safe legal abortions because banning them wouldn't stop women aborting, just make it more dangerous & cause more deaths or women needing things like hysterectomies because of the damage caused.

Will all these women be protesting if the right to die campaign becomes law? Again it is a personal choice, if you don't want it then don't choose it, I bet if any of them are dying from an agonising condition some will choose the right to die, which makes them hypocrites.

I remember being really surprised how nice and non judgmental they were. I thought I was gonna be given the side eye and treated poorly. Then again I was raised Catholic and the expectation of extreme guilt and is always simmering under the surface!

So I currently have my local councillor on board who hopes that the display doesn't fall under "freedom of expression" legislation.

Given that a local member is currently being prosecuted under the malicious communications act for sending an avalanche of similar materials to an MP, I can't see how it can be any different.

I may have kicked a hornets nest.....

Pro-life as an excuse for misogyny.

This sort of shit has no place on our streets. I really hope you get them to fuck right off

I had an abortion almost 30 years ago, very much against what up until I was in the situation I believed in.

I was in an abusive relationship, had 4 children, 2 of them with less than a year apart (with 1 of those being in and out of hospital as a preemie and then having GDD so it was like having 2 newborns) and through no choice of my own I fell pregnant again when my youngest was less than 6 weeks old.

Oh and I suffered with severe hyperemesis, requiring regular admissions throughout every pregnancy. I also have EDS and the SPD hit along with the vomiting before I was even aware I might have missed a period. (Of course I hadn't even actually had my first period after giving birth).

When I went to the GP, I was quite bluntly told that my body wouldn't be able to deal with another pregnancy so soon. My actual life was at risk and there was an extremely high risk that i wouldn't be able to carry to term. It was highly recommended that I had an abortion.

Even all those years ago, the procedure was explained to me, along with all the risks of the operation (there were no chemical abortions back then). I was given all the information I needed to make an informed decision. I don't know of its the same now, but back then an abortion had to be signed off by 2 doctors, so everything was explained at least twice.

Do I regret having the abortion? No, my children needed me alive and physically capable of caring for them. Do I sometimes wonder about the child that couldn't have been? Yes, but in the same was I think about my other 3 stars, that baby has a star behind my ear in the same way my miscarriages do.

No, I won't... and thankfully the head agreed with me when I told her. It was entirely inappropriate material to be handing out to young girls (and boys), Catholic or not.

They ran an extensive hate campaign against Stella Creasy because she dared to be pro-choice and pregnant at the same time.

Absolutely disgusted by the 12% of YABUs. Vile.

These people are utterly evil and it truly sickens me that they stand there with such pompous righteousness.

Hate them with a passion.

Clearly none of them have ever miscarried or they'd know just how evil their 'methods' are.

The only good thing is that we have legislators on our side at the moment. It was an absolute win to have them banned from protesting within 100m of abortion clinics. This is the time to campaign against them.

@EverEdith Do you really think that those of us who've had abortions don't know what the procedure entails?!

You sound the the ignorant one, if so.

https://abortionrights.org.uk/

Anyone feeling the itch to donate to this charity, I'm sure every penny is highly appreciated.

Someone's got to stand up against these zealots.

I suspect that what this poster means is that the procedure in relation to the embryo/fetus is rarely explained.

She's right, though, in that it's often glossed over. Whether this is something that women need to know is a matter of debate. I can see that it's often better for the mental health of the woman for it not to be dwelled on too much.

Terms like 'surgical abortion' are often used without explaining how the fetus is killed and removed. The focus is on the woman having a GA, what she will experience afterwards. It's easy to find out the nitty gritty though through Google is people want.

With the pills, Google says that the first pill blocks the hormone needed for the pregnancy to progress, but what does that mean - what is the actual process of demise? Who knows. If it was that it stopped oxygen getting to the embryo then we'd know it was suffocation. If it caused a massive internal bleed, we'd know it was that.

Once again, it is up to the woman to decide how much she wants to know and make her decisions accordingly. The key thing is choice and non judgemental support at every step.

I think there needs to be more awareness of what abortion involves. I've read threads on here where women are shocked when they pass the foetus, because they'd been led to believe it was just a blob of cells, and they're shocked and guilt-ridden over how developed it looks.

But I've also read threads where women regret their abortions and other posters tell them, "Don't blame yourself, it's the NHS's fault, they should have realised you were vulnerable and refused to allow you an abortion." If a woman regrets her decision, she has to take full responsibility for that. It's not the NHS's place to talk women out of abortions.

I am pro choice but I agree, awareness of what tissue might come out is helpful in advance

They do talk you through exactly what it involves at BPAS and also talk to the patient on their own to make sure it is their decision and that they are not being pressurised.

If they truly cared about women, that would include the 1 in 4 that experience a miscarriage during their lifetime.

I had a miscarriage when I was a teenager and it took me a long time to make my peace with what could have been and the life I have instead. A few years ago I was shopping on a Saturday and was confronted out of the blue by one of CRB UK’s graphic posters. I found it so upsetting that I had to turn around and go home.

Their right to express their opinion shouldn’t overrule other people’s right to live their life and use public spaces.

Any pro-lifers who are keen on explicit and bloody pictures of the aftermath of a surgical procedure, could do no better than to view the aftermath of an emergency caesarian to save a mother's life following pre-eclampsia at 28 weeks.

That was me when my baby DS was born. Luckily he survived albeit with severe and life-changing disabilities, and I survived (by no means a certainty). I won't bore pro-lifers with the details of how hard it is to care for a disabled child. But what made and makes it bearable to deal with (apart from the fact his father is an equally devoted parent - not every mother has support) is that it was my choice to have my DS and it wasn't in any way imposed on me.

And no I have never had an abortion. But my experience has taught me that there is no way that any woman should be forced to have a child against her will. It is a medical decision, so don't drag so-called morality into it; at least, if there is a moral decision to be made, that decision is 'owned' by the woman only and cannot be imposed on her when it affects only her life. The arrogance of pro-lifers claiming that their moral judgment should override hers!

But there you have it - misogyny. Whatever some of its members think they are intending to achieve by seeking to ban abortion, the underlying principle of the pro-life movement is misogynistic contempt for women. That is demonstrated by the fact that they are happy for women to be turned into unwilling incubators; that they think the resultant suffering, mental trauma, and even death of women is all a 'price worth paying' for ensuring the survival of children they don't then give a toss about once born.

Whatever 'good' some pro-lifers feel they are doing, what they advocate for would directly put women at risk. You want to reduce abortion? Campaign for a society that prioritises and centres women and children, ensures the availability of health care, eradicates poverty and imposes harsh punishments for those who rape & abuse women and children. A non-patriarchal society in other words.

And just for those of a religious bent: the Bible has not one word to say on the subject of abortion, despite it being very much a 'thing' in ancient times too.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/19/he-has-already-fathered-many-children-now-musk-wants-all-of-the-us-to-embrace-extreme-breeding

And this, dear vipers, while it sounds extreme and frankly ludicrous, is part of the reason pro-lifers should be kept at bay.

Sheesh, stop the world, I wanna get off.