After a vote at the end of 2018, Ireland now permits abortions of pregnancies up to 12 weeks, which was met with some small protests in a country that had been one of the most restrictive against abortions, according to The New York Times.
"Real doctors don't terminate their patients," and "Say no to abortion in Galway," protest signs read, the Times reported.
A vote repealed an Ireland Constitution clause which restricted terminating pregnancies up to 12 weeks, and now the protests are leading to calls for legislation to protect women seeking abortions and the doctors that provide them.
"It's about generally sending a message about access, sending a message that it's no longer permissible to stigmatize and intimidate and mislead and obstruct women who are accessing a legal service," Mairead Enright, a pro-choice advocate told the Times.
The proposal of exclusion zones around abortion clinics have raised challenges of free speech.
"Abortion providers are going to be protested & picketed in Ireland, it happens in other democracies it will happen here & it will intensify. It is a democratic right," Declan Ganley, a pro-life advocate, tweeted.
With the newly repealed restrictions, access to abortions are not going to be easy to come by. Four counties on the Ireland government website have no physicians providers listed, according to the report.
"Many women, particularly in rural Ireland will have to travel significant distances," Enright told the Times. "We hope that we are going to be able to build on this initial provision."
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