Protests outside the newly opened Marie Stopes abortion clinic

Eyewitnesses report more than 200 people currently protesting outside the newly-opened Marie Stopes clinic in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The clinic is the first in Northern Ireland offering the legal termination of pregnancies.

The protesters at the clinic are from a range of religious denominations and are reportedly holding up placards with images of aborted foetuses.

The Marie Stopes clinic has said it will carry out medical, not surgical, procedures only up to nine weeks gestation and only within the existing legal framework. In Northern Ireland terminations can be carried out only to preserve the life of the mother or if continuing the pregnancy would have other serious, permanent physical or mental health effects.

Images show a number of police officers attending the protest.

(NewsPoint)