A group of activists has pledged to remain “on call” to oppose the display of graphic anti-abortion posters outside Irish maternity hospitals.
It’s after the Irish Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform, returned to the Rotunda Hospital to display the posters last night.
The Rotunda tweeted to say the group had decided to display the images despite the hospital's pleas for them to stop.
Despite previous pleas to refrain from protesting outside our entrance, an anti-abortion group is currently displaying graphic imagery outside the Hospital.
— The Rotunda Hospital (@RotundaHospital) May 3, 2018
On Monday, the hospital warned that the posters had caused “a lot of upset and distress for patients, many of whom attend the hospital for a number of different reasons and not just for the happy occasion of giving birth to a new baby.”
After the posters were re-erected last night, a group calling themselves "Radical Queers Resist" decided to take action.
They said the images, which show foetuses at various stages of development, are distressing to women – and covered them up with LGBT pride flags.
We won’t back down until they do. Images are being blocked, pride flags are on their way. Stay safe everyone, avoid this area if you need to! - N pic.twitter.com/IPMGZfo6e8
— Radical Queers Resist (@RadQueersResist) May 3, 2018
This woman was among those who tried to cover up the posters last night - and said they will do it again if necessary:
"We just decided that we weren't content for this to go on, on our streets; for them to have these images which are harmful and distressing outside maternity hospitals,” she said.
“Women going in might be getting diagnoses of Fatal Foetal Abnormalities, they might be going through miscarriages, they might be going through unwanted pregnancies or through wanted pregnancies.
“It is all quite distressing to see these images when you are going through things."
A post shared by RADICAL QUEERS RESIST - RQR (@radicalqueersresist) on
On Tuesday, Irish Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform director Jean Engela, who trained as a doctor in Ireland, pledged to step up the poster campaign.
He said the group aimed to find out what venues our opposition is most indignant about and realise that is where we are being most effective – and do more of it not less.”
He said the campaign was targeting hospitals because they are not willing to display the posters on campus.
The posters have been condemned by campaigners on both sides of the Eighth Amendment debate, with Save the 8th spokesperson John McGuirk noting on Monday that they are “not affiliated with our campaign, they are not affiliated with the other major pro-life campaigns."
He added: "These are people who in many cases are not Irish."
