Workers Solidarity Movement

About 200 people took part in a protest last night at the misleading pregnancy advise centre on Berkely road exposed yet again by a Times investigation, see their video below.

This protest was organised at very short notice by Real-Productive Health. They had organised a protest about a year back as well but this operation has been misleading women in crisis for about a decade with similar protests happening on many occasions over those years.

It's located next to the (genuine) Marie Stopes advice centre.  Speakers included Emily from the anti-racist network who talked about how already marginalised people are likely to be particularly vunerable to being mislead by such operations.

Ahead of the protest the organisers said
"We are calling this picket on a recently exposed so-called ‘counselling’ service that lies to women with crisis pregnancies.

‘We are calling for the immediate and appropriate regulation of this sector. We are calling for closure of services that refuse to afford women their constitutional right to accurate information about abortion services outside Ireland, and who lie to them about the effects of a termination of pregnancy.

‘Anti-choice ‘counsellors’ who tell their clients that women who have had abortions are more prone to breast cancer or are in danger of engaging in child-abuse are beneath contempt. It reveals the depths to which they will go in trying to fool women in crisis, as well as the general public, in order to deny women the right to control their own bodies.

‘They are not pro-life, they are pro-lies.

‘We challenge the anti-choice campaigners to denounce this service, and also to admit whatever connections may exist between them and these fraudsters who peddle contemptible lies.

This situation has arisen because women are denied the right to abortion services in Ireland. The Irish state continues to bury its head in the sand, all the while women are lied to, denied accurate information and denied access to safe and legal services in their own country. Ultimately, people who are pregnant are denied autonomy of their own body on the Island of Ireland (both North and South).

Politicians must call a referendum to REPEAL THE EIGHTH AMENDMENT and stop exporting the problem to England.

Real-Productive Health calls on the women of Ireland and their pro-choice allies to stand up to these anti-choice bullies. We demand that they stop lying in order to deny women the right to make choices about our own bodies, our futures and our lives.'"

A national demonstration organised by the Abortion Rights Campaign to demand the Repeal of the 8th amendement takes place in Dublin 0n the 24th of this month.