A Pro-Life rally – and counter-rally – are taking place in Dublin city centre this afternoon. 

The Rally for Life march will take place at 1.30pm from Parnell Square – in what campaigners call the “biggest Pro-Life event of the year”. 

This is the 18th annual Rally for Life and takes place six years after a referendum legalised abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. 

The group is once again demanding the Government introduce “life-saving measures” such as extending the three-day waiting period to get an abortion and introducing a ‘Heartbeat Bill’ that restricts abortion to within six weeks of pregnancy. 

Speakers scheduled for the event include independent TD Carol Nolan and former Pussycat Dolls member Kaya Jones. 

Ms Jones has previously spoken about her belief the music industry “controls and abuses young women”, including pressing them to have abortions. 

She has discussed her own experience of being pressured to get abortions while a singer and has since begun to campaign for women to “choose differently”. 

Life Institute Chair Niamh Uí Bhriain will also attend the rally, calling on people to “rebuild a culture when it is so broken”. 

Counter-rally against Pro-Life

A United for Choice counter-rally will also take place at Parnell Square from 1.30pm in protest of Rally for Life’s demands. 

Protestors are demanding people have the right to bodily autonomy “without State or Church intervention”. 

They are calling for increased access to abortion, such as removing the mandatory three-day wait period before you can terminate a pregnancy. 

People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Bríd Smith said in the recent local and European elections, several people were elected who “want to push back against abortion rights”. 

“They’re saying they’re not just going to go after immigration,” she said. “They’re going after the right to choose. 

“The Repeal movement is very successful but it’s only as successful insofar as we can defend that right to choose.” 

Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) President Jenny Maguire said it’s “ridiculous” that protestors must still defend the right to abortion in Ireland. 

“They want to take us back to an Ireland that’s not safe for women, for queer people, for any minority or any oppressed person,” she said. 

The counter-rally is also demonstrating to say “no to the far-right" and is calling for an end to gender-based violence.