I’m all for free speech and public protests / demonstrations. They’re fundamental for a healthy democracy and for an active political population. However, I have my limits.
It’s an inevitably that you know of the infamous anti-abortion group Abort67. Now before I continue, let me make my views on abortion clear before being accused of having a bias. For the sake of brevity I will just say this, I’m neither for or against. Abortion is a subject I find incredibly uncomfortable due to a past childhood trauma, so I tend to stay away from the subject as much as possible.
My first issue with the Abort67 group is simply this; their methods of public protest are vile and abhorrent. Showing horrifically graphic images in public is not okay. Abort67 do not realise the damage these images could cause, especially to children or those (such as myself) who have suffered traumatic incidents regarding birth. They argue that it’s to raise awareness of what goes on, but you would not expect to see people opposed to ISIS to publicly show graphic beheading images.
Their method of protest is also counterproductive. It makes those undecided on abortion or even those against abortion more likely to side with the pro-choice movement.
Now allow me to to move onto my second point. The Island’s business is not the business of Abort67. They are a UK protest group. We are not part of the UK. Although I have very strong views on the UK Government and it’s no secret I despise their government (and the very notion of government in general) I do not travel to the UK to protest. Protesting in public places against specific policies of that nation should be the responsibility of the citizens.
Finally, the group has made statements saying they’ll film the public using body cameras. Not only is this inciteful, provocative and a blatant scare tactics, but also a breach of the Island’s data protection laws. If protest groups from the Island are expected to comply with these laws, so too should a group from the UK.
The Sad Rad 