Workers Solidarity Movement

Somewhere in the region of 70 people attended an emergency pro-choice protest outside Belfast City Hall December 1st. Those present were protesting in favour of free, safe and legal abortion on demand, as early as possible, as late as necessary.

The protest was called by Alliance for Choice to keep the momentum up from the positive ruling the day before that maintained that the North’s strict abortion laws are in “breach of human rights” in the cases of rape, incest and fatal foetal abnormalities.

Among those who spoke was Suzanne Lee who said “it [the new ruling] doesn’t help me, I stand here and I face life in prison and that’s not good enough and it’s not acceptable. While we hear these politicians say that they’re going to appeal this tiny tiny step that they have taken, we can’t let it continue, we can’t go on. What we have to do is, we have to keep breaking the law, provide abortion pills and make sure that anyone who wants an abortion in this country can access it. What we need to demand is abortion on demand, which is not a dirty phrase; it’s not a phrase that we should be ashamed of. It’s right to stand here and to be angry, I have been angry for years now and we’re still not getting anywhere. What we need to call for from this protest is free, safe and legal abortion on demand!”

The fight is nowhere near over, even when we achieve free, safe and legal abortion on demand the fight will continue to ensure that every child brought into this world is brought into a world free from all kinds of oppression.

Our video footage of the protest shows Suzanne and Fiona Nic Fheargais addressing the crowd.