Anti-abortion activists trying to ambush women with disturbing images in Clayton Square were foiled this afternoon by passersby who formed a human wall around the display.
The counter-protesters told how they had banded together after, they claim, seeing demonstrators approaching mothers with young children and pregnant women on the street, and trying to pass pamphlets with bloody images to them.
The group of strangers assembled to form a human wall in front of a large eight-foot poster, depicting the aftermath of an abortion, to block the image from view from the people walking through the square.
Thomas Perkel-Scott, 20, who was involved in the human wall said: "I understand that they have a right to be here, but they can't expect not to face a reaction.
"We talked to the police and the only thing we could do is stand in front of it and block it. So we're doing what we're doing because I don't believe that any person should have the right to make someone else feel ashamed. That's what they're doing; shaming women."
Thomas originally came to the city to study at the Liverpool institute of Performing Arts. He said he was dismayed to see the demonstration occurring.
He said: "I was hoping that Liverpool, a progressive city, would have the backs of all those people for who the laws on abortion exist.
"Could you imagine being a woman who had become pregnant after a rape and being shamed? It's absolutely ridiculous."
Other members of the counter-protest told how one woman in particular had fled the square, seeking refuge in a nearby coffee shop to get away from the campaigners. She could not be located for comment.
Liverpool councillors have previously criticised the anti-abortion demonstrations , and on at least one occasion, police have been called .
Spokesperson for the anti-abortion group, Jane Lawrence, dismissed the idea that people were unknowingly being exposed to graphic imagery.
She described the image as "factual" and said: "We have boards up warning about the graphic imagery, people are free to walk away."
Pro-choice campaigners have questioned the idea that the images are factual as in reality the foetus in question would be just a few inches long .
From one entrance to the square it was much easier to see the abortion image than the pre-warning poster which was posted less than 15 feet away.
The demonstration quickly removed themselves from the square at around 2.45pm.
