Organisers said the chief aim of the Rally For Life was to urge the public, and the Government, to rethink abortion.

A campaign to retain the three-day waiting period before undergoing an abortion was launched at the rally.

Megan Ní Scealláin, a spokesperson for the Life Institute, said: “Voters were guaranteed that women would have a three-day period to reflect between a first abortion appointment and the doctor giving the abortion pill, and it is appalling to see abortion campaigners now push to have that time to think scrapped.

“We know from figures released to Carol Nolan TD that between 800 and 1,000 women did not proceed with an abortion after that initial appointment.

“Scrapping the requirement for those three days to think might mean another 1,000 abortions a year.”

Pro-life TDs, Independent Carol Nolan and Peadar Tóibín of Aontú, also addressed the rally.