Cork Socialist Party & Socialist Youth help to organise protest against Youth Defence
On June 27th, over 50 people gathered outside Brown Thomas on Patrick St. to protest against the anti-choice group, Youth Defence, who were having a stall in Cork as part of their anti-abortion road show. Most of the protesters were young people angered by the group’s advertisement campaign but also their misleading graphic imagery. The demonstration, which was organized in less than 48 hours, received support from many women’s rights groups, such as Choice Ireland, Cork Women’s Right To Choose and Cork Feminista . Many UCC students showed up with placards to join the protest.
The anti-choice group were clearly rattled and in an attempt to drowned out our chants of “Stop the lies – let women decide”. In response, they resorted to turning their pop music up to an extremely loud level and one of the them shouting through a microphone that “abortion is murder” which drove more people away from them. The protesters demonstrated in high spirits for close to two and a half hours and left as a group. Youth Defence were not prepared for such a powerful response and were visibly annoyed and frustrated that they were challenged so publicly on the streets of Cork. The protest outnumbered the Youth Defence and received lots of public support.
People in Cork and around the country are repulsed by Youth Defence’s shock tactics that are not based on fact. They are using outdated statistics, some from the early 1980s, as well as disturbing pictures of stillborn babies they try to mislead people into think are a foetuses. They were exposed for what they really are at the protest, delusional fanatics who wish to control women’s bodies. The excellent turnout has left many feeling that with the momentum behind it, a strong opposition to the anti-choice bigots can be formed.
