A campaigner from America has pledged that legal action will be taken against the government if the Abortion Reform Bill is passed.

Executive director of the Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR) Gregg Cunningham is in the island as the House of Keys today (Tuesday) votes on whether buffer zones should be created.

Mr Cunningham was invited over to the Isle of Man by the group’s island branch CBRIOM, but refused to tell the Examiner who had funded the visit.

The former US politician once introduced legislation that ended public funding for abortion while serving as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

In a warning to the Manx Government, he said: ’If this [bill] passes, we’re going to court.

’They have to be prepared for that. It’s going to be a long and very brutal struggle.’

He claimed that the introduction of access zones around clinics offering abortion services would be an ’infringement’ of people’s human rights.

’Every place we display the pictures, we have warning signs along the avenues of approach in all directions so that people who don’t wish to see the pictures can avert their gaze,’ he said. ’All they have to do is look away. We respect that right.

’We don’t chase them down and get in their faces with a picture and try to make them look if they don’t want too. We have a right to display the pictures, they have a right to not look at them.’

Mr Cunningham said that if the bill passes they’re determined to continue campaigning.

’This is not going to go away, as long as babies are being killed, this is not going to go away.’

The activist admitted that he didn’t know how the legal action would be pursued.

’All of that has to be worked out,’ he said. ’There are strategic and tactical decisions that would have to be made.’

Even though the campaigner is not from the island, he believes that he has a right to campaign against the Abortion Reform Bill, saying that abortion is a global issue.

Mr Cunningham explained that he spoke to one MHK, who he refused to name, who told him: ’We don’t like it when outsiders come in here and tell us what to do’.

He said he replied: ’Well you don’t seem to have a problem with that when the outsiders are pro-abortion.’

According to Mr Cunningham, the MHK had said: ’Yes, but the people who come here, who are pro-abortion, aren’t bothering anyone. You’re bothering people.'

’He has not the faintest notion of how bothersome this is to become,’ Mr Cunningham said.

’All lawfully, all respectfully, we’re going to be showing people what abortion does for the baby and it is bothersome because people don’t want to accept the truth.’

A pro-life demonstration will be held outside the Tynwald building.

David Brennan of Brephos, part of the Centre of Bio-Ethical Reform UK, is also supporting the campaign.

â?¢ See Paul Speller’s preview of the House of Keys sitting, right.