THE pro-choice side in Ireland's ongoing debate on abortion tested the limits of the law by bringing their abortion bus on a tour of the country.
The bus, which operated as a mobile advice clinic, carried medical abortion pills and gave Irish women access to an online consultation from a physician via Skype.
The protest against Ireland’s strict stance on abortion was organised by human rights organisation For Reproductive rights, against Oppression, Sexism and Austerity (ROSA) and WomenOnWeb.org.
Anti-Austerity Alliance politician Ruth Coppinger TD also leant her support to the campaign.
“The bus provides women with the help they need in this country, rather than forcing them to travel at huge expense, and with extra personal trauma, to access the healthcare they need,” a ROSA spokesperson said.
The abortion bus is highlighting the campaign to amend Ireland’s stance on termination and to accelerate the pro-choice argument ahead of next year's general election.
Setting out from Dublin last Friday afternoon, the bus visited Galway, Limerick and Cork before returning to the capital.
While the abortion pill was not distributed on the tour, ROSA campaigner Rita Harrold told The Irish Post that they will be sending them out to the women who requested them in the coming days and weeks.
"It's all illegal but it had to be done because women need this service," she said.
The bus travelled to many of Ireland's major cities. Picture: RollingNews.ieThough the pill is illegal in both the Republic and the North of Ireland, it can be posted into the North without being seized, unlike south of the border.
And Ms Harrold believes that this method is being used despite the current laws.
"The Eighth Amendment isn't stopping women from having abortions," she added.
"Thousands travel to England every year to have legal abortions but many cannot afford to do that so they use the abortion pill at home."
And those behind the abortion bus initiative do not fear legal action for their efforts to make the pill available in Ireland.
"Many women are doing this and there has never been a case taken against any of them," Ms Harrold added.
The campaigners are part of a movement in Ireland to repeal the Eighth Amendment of the Irish Constitution, which was signed into law on 1983.
The Amendment gives equal weight to the life of a mother and the life of an unborn child.
But the bus was met with protest when it arrived into Cork, where a small group held placards with slogans such as “Love them Both - Abortion kills one and hurts another” and “Abortion is Murder.”
Ms Coppinger was vocal in her stance on abortion when addressing the Cork crowds.
“They make a lot of noise,” the TD said of the anti-protestors. “You are screaming down ordinary women here today. You should be ashamed of yourself but you are doing so out of desperation. Because you know your days are numbered.
“We need to educate women about this safe pill.”
“We are sending a message to the political establishment that they cannot ignore – women cannot and will not wait any longer for health and human rights,” ROSA’s spokesperson said.
“We demand a referendum to repeal the Eighth.”
Gardaí moved the bus along when it pulled up at Galway's Spanish Arch but otherwise it travelled with minimal disruption over the weekend.
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