BELFAST, United Kingdom: Hundreds of pro-life campaigners protested outside the first ever private abortion clinic in Northern Ireland as it opened to the public on Thursday.
Around 200 protesters brandishing placards saying “Life is precious” and showing photographs of foetuses were gathered outside the privately run Marie Stopes clinic in central Belfast.
One banner read: “Abortion? The people of Northern Ireland say ‘not in my name’.”
Police have warned the media to avoid photographing or filming the faces of any clients or staff entering the clinic, which is housed in a nondescript building.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said any film or pictures identifying anyone going into the building would be a breach of British law and the European Convention on Human Rights.
One protester, James Dowson, who had traveled from Scotland to represent the UK Life League, said the clinic was “a money-making business” and “a gruesome deadly business that deals with the killing of unborn children.”
“We are here today to show solidarity with the people of Belfast,” he told AFP.
“Marie Stopes is not wanted here, it’s not wanted on the island of Ireland, north or south, where the people have repeatedly opposed and rejected abortion, but still these people, these internationalists, have come here.”
It is extremely difficult to get an abortion in Northern Ireland, a British province where there is strong opposition to changing the law on terminating pregnancies.
Northern Ireland is not covered by legislation which allows terminations up to 24 weeks into pregnancies in England, Scotland and Wales, the other three nations in the United Kingdom.
In Northern Ireland, it is legal to terminate a pregnancy, but only in the first nine weeks and only if the mother’s life is in danger or there is a risk to her mental or physical wellbeing.
Between 2006 and 2012, just 262 terminations were carried out in the province, which is home to 1.8 million people.
In the Catholic-dominated Republic of Ireland, legislation is even more draconian, with abortion illegal unless it is performed to save the life of the mother.
Northern Ireland’s health minister Edwin Poots this week warned the operators of the clinic to remain strictly within the letter of the law.
“Marie Stopes should be very cautious about what it does here, and we will ensure that the law is fulfilled,” he told the Northern Ireland Assembly.
“If some people think that they can get away with not observing the law, they may find that it is not a paper tiger but one with a lot of teeth. I caution any physician who would seek to challenge it.”
Ten policemen stood guard outside the clinic on Thursday, although it will be protected by private security guards under normal circumstances.
Emotions high as N. Ireland’s first abortion clinic opens
Emotions high as N. Ireland’s first abortion clinic opens
UK court jails Christian camp leader for drugging, sexually abusing boys
- Ruben admitted offenses relating to ill-treatment of children and sexual abuse — as well as to drugging his wife, who was volunteering at the camp, in order to avoid detection
LONDON: A court in England on Friday jailed a man for more than 31 years for drugging and sexually abusing young boys at a Christian summer camp he led last summer.
Police say they are now talking to other groups he worked with in the past as part of an ongoing investigation.
Former vet Jon Ruben, 76, was leading the camp last July, said a statement from prosecutors released after Friday’s judgment.
He laced sweets with sedatives and tricked children at the camp into eating them by encouraging them to take part in a game.
“Later on, while the boys were heavily asleep, he went into their dormitory and chose individual boys to sexually abuse them,” said prosecutors.
Volunteers at the camp in Leicestershire, central England, raised the alarm after finding the children still nauseous, drowsy and disoriented the next day.
Eight boys aged between eight and 11 were taken to hospital and Ruben was arrested.
Investigators found syringes and sedatives at the camp location.
On his devices they found indecent images of children as well as evidence he had procured tranquilizer drugs and tried to join an online paedophile network.
Ruben admitted offenses relating to ill-treatment of children and sexual abuse — as well as to drugging his wife, who was volunteering at the camp, in order to avoid detection.
A court in Leicester sentenced him on Friday to a total of 31 years and 10 months behind bars under special provisions for defendants designated by prosecutors as particularly dangerous.
Leicestershire police said the investigation into Ruben was still “very much ongoing.”
Officers are contacting schools and youth organizations in central England with whom Ruben was involved with over the past two decades.
