A group of about 20 women, wearing masks and gags, marched outside the D'il today to protest at what they called the railroading of the Government's abortion bill through the committee stage.
The women are members of the Alliance for a No Vote (ANV), a group formed to campaign for a No vote in the referendum on the Government's proposed abortion bill.
Marching in white t-shirts with large black Xs, the women carried placards saying "Don't export Ireland's women" and "Vote against Bertie's Bill".
Attending the protest, Labour spokeswoman for Health Ms Liz McManus stated her opposition to the Bill. "I'm totally opposed to the bill because it proposes to take away the right to life that Irish women currently enjoy under the constitution," she said.
Ms McManus said that there were legal and constitutional problems with the bill, and that the Government was refusing to respond to changes in Irish society.
"The Government has come back with the same questions dressed up differently," she said. Ms McManus called Fianna Fáil an "anti-women party" and said the bil was reversing progress in Ireland.
The new bill proposes legislation to allow abortion in cases where a woman's life is at risk arising from pregnancy, but not where suicide is threatened.
Under the legally complex proposal, which follows four years of consultation, voters will be asked to approve by referendum the text of proposed legislation.
If the referendum is carried, the Oireachtas then has 180 days to pass legislation according to the exact wording approved by the people. Any future attempt to amend this legislation must be approved by referendum.
The proposed legislation excludes from the definition of abortion the termination of pregnancy carried out where the mother's life is at risk "other than by self-destruction".