The woman in her 40s, sheltering from the rain in a downtown Belfast
doorway yesterday, was completely unaware that the building will soon
house the city's first private abortion clinic.
The opening, which will take place next week, has caused quite a stir but the news had not reached her.
"Really?" said the woman, a west Belfast Catholic in her 40s. "Well, I
would say okay, yep, go ahead. I used to work in a youth background in
my neighbourhood and we gave out advice. I can see where there are times
where it does have to be used."
Was her attitude typical of others in her Catholic district? "No, I
wouldn't think so," she said, shaking her head with a smile.
Just along the street, a 20-year-old single woman waiting at a bus stop
voices the hostility of many locals. "I don't agree with that. I think
that's terrible, that's awful. It shouldn't happen here at all."
The new clinic, run by the Marie Stopes organisation, is on the eighth
floor of an anonymous office block in an area known for its nightlife,
close to the Europa Hotel and Belfast's opera house. Inside it features
many small rooms for discretion and privacy.
There is little in the way of major medical equipment, since procedures
will be carried out with drugs rather than surgery.
"This place is warm,
welcoming and non-judgemental, offering safety, security and
confidentiality," the programme director Dawn Purvis told The
Independent.
The clinic is a first for Northern Ireland but still subject to its
strict abortion laws, which have not kept pace with the rest of the UK.
In Northern Ireland, abortions can only be carried out in a pregnancy's
first nine weeks, and when continuing the pregnancy would have serious,
long-term effects on the physical or mental health of the woman.
These conditions mean that many women will continue to travel to England
for abortions. More than 1,000 did so in 2011. "I don't expect that to
stop," Ms Purvis said. "We can provide a link to centres in England,
which will reduce some of their trauma, because it's a very lonely
journey. Many of them have to go by themselves – having to beg, borrow,
steal and lie to family and friends about where they're going."
She said in her community work she heard about backstreet abortions.
Pro-life campaigner Bernadette Smyth, from the Precious Life group,
yesterday said she would take legal action against the clinic's opening
and intended to make a formal complaint to the police.
She added: "I
will be in communication with the government to ensure any plans to
destroy the life of an unborn child are stopped immediately. There is no
demand for Marie Stopes in Northern Ireland."