Those Ads...

Those ads really bother me, abortion is illegal so what exactly is the point of them? I think it just serves to make women feel like crap and make us even more stigmatised than we already are :mad:

I am very pro-choice, but if i was in the situation of needing an abortion and seen these posters, I probably guilt myself into keeping the baby. How dare these people belittle women in these terrible situations? Do they ever think outside the box and realise some people need to have abortions for medical reasons, I will never forget that poor lady of Ray D'arcy show a couple of months ago

And they capture a younger woman in the picture, even though a larger number of middle aged women are considering abortions due the economic times.

Maybe they should run a campaign with a woman that decided to keep a baby she didn't want or could afford and now is living on the bread-line depressed.

Honey-ec wrote: »

I love this:

"Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Life Institute, who are co-sponsoring the nationwide campaign with Youth Defence, said the posters were inspired by a woman who had had an abortion.

"She told me that she felt her life was torn apart by the abortion, and that her baby's life was torn apart as well. I thought it was a powerful description of the reality of abortion, which is all too often glossed over in the debate on the issue."

So, one woman has regrets over her abortion and YD decide she speaks for all women and roll out a nationwide campaign designed to stigmatise anyone who's had an abortion?

Mail sent to JC Decaux and I've contacted all five TDs in my constituency.

She would have been better off using that money to fund decent counselling for women like the one she mentions :mad:

Abortion can be devestating to a woman but studies show thats more likely to be the outcome if its something a woman is coerced into doing or if its a rush decision or done without proper thought.

Of course seeing as how abortion is illegal here and you're making such a big decision based on when you can travel, cost of flights etc how many women really have the time to think it through properly with all that pressure? :mad:

I've no doubt many women are struggling to deal with their abortions, I have met many of them myself but this kind of campaign is going to do nothing to help them move forward and I hate to think a poor woman already in a vulnerable position is going to be scared into continuing with a pregnancy she doesn't want.

I just wish the voices of the women who have had abortions and are okay, women like me who have not fallen to bits and have found a way to move on and live happy lives, could be heard.

But if you think there is a stigma to being a woman who has had an abortion try being a woman who has had an abortion and doesn't regret it.

Honey-ec wrote: »

I love this:

"I thought it was a powerful description of the reality of abortion, which is all too often glossed over in the debate on the issue."

Know what else is often glossed over? The realities of motherhood and giving away your baby for adoption after nine months of pregnancy and giving birth.

Ireland is the only 1st world country where abortion is illegal, what more do they want? If it weren't for EU human rights laws they'd ban travelling to get an abortion too.

Nope, they're still not satisfied until they've shamed women with hyperbole.

I emailed my TDs this email today:

Dear XXXXXX

I'm getting in touch regarding the recent campaign by Youth Defence, which uses billboards and buses to display images of either an ultrasound of a foetus being torn in half, or a woman in distress to promote their message that "Abortion tears her life apart, there is always a better answer". No doubt your attention has been drawn to these advertisements through recent media coverage and their prominence about the city. I wish to lend my voice to the criticism of these ads, as those of us who believe in a woman's right to choose (or indeed those of us that do not support abortion, but realise the danger and harm in these advertisements serving to stigmatise and alienate women who have had an abortion in the past) are not an organised group with extensive funding who can afford to make our voices heard on such a public and national scale as Youth Defence has.

While I believe in free speech and acknowledge Youth Defence's right to publicly display their message even if it is at odds with my own beliefs, I think we have to question at what point does the duty not to cause offence and distress outweigh the right to free speech? I sincerely doubt Dublin City Council or JC Decaux would have allowed such public messages if they were blatantly racist or designed to cause distress to another group of people. These ads do nothing more than attempt to condense what is a difficult and nuanced debate into a pithy, inflammatory message that only serves to contribute to the stigma and shame many women feel after having an abortion. Furthermore, they also grossly misrepresent the true feelings of women in the aftermath of an abortion, as a study by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency found that 95% of Irish women who had had an abortion believed it was the right choice for them.(http://www.crisispregnancy.ie/pub/cou.pdf)

To conclude, while we may not be a homogeneous organisation or have large pools of funding, those of us who believe in a woman's right to choose and that stigmatising and shaming women who have had abortions is extremely counterproductive are a significant number and so I urge you not to be swayed by Youth Defence's empty rhetoric, to realise that these advertisements do not represent the views of the people of Ireland and to bear this in mind this when the government's expert group submits their report for legislating for the X case in the next couple of months. I urge you not to be the seventh successive government not to legislate for this extremely important issue.

Yours Sincerely,