The vague plans of an obscure US pro-life organisation to engage in abortion outreach outside Irish GP clinics and hospitals was the subject of a raft of articles that appeared in the Times, Ireland Edition, on Monday.

According to the newspaper a US organisation,  Sidewalk Advocates for Life (SAFL), is training campaigners to wait in hospital car parks to target couples who have received a diagnosis of a fatal foetal abnormality to talk them out of having an abortion.

The article adds that the group advises as an “effective” tactic telling rape victims that having an abortion will not “unrape” them and that a termination can be “rape like”.

Bethany Mistretta, a programme manager for SAFL, is reported as saying that they want to “have every abortion facility or every doctor’s office that provides abortions, have every one of those locations covered with peaceful sidewalk advocates. Any hour of business that they’re open.”

In a later statement to RTÉ News, the group said its materials “were taken out of context” by the newspaper. It added: “We advise every location to act within the confines of their legal rights to offer help through local, reputable pregnancy centres or other medical facilities to fill their healthcare needs. “We have no grand plan to put Sidewalk Advocates in front of every abortion facility in Ireland.”