Down Syndrome advocate and TED Talk star, Karen Gaffney, addressed a huge crowd at a pro-life rally in Dublin this weekend, taking to the stage to deliver the message that all human life has value and should be protected.

As battle lines are drawn ahead of the Irish government’s initiative to dismantle the country’s pro-life 8th amendment, organizers hailed the massive turn-out as a success and pledged an all-out mobilization between now and next year’s referendum to defend Ireland’s pro-life culture.

Saturday’s colorful march, estimated at 60,000 – 80,000 strong, took two hours to cross the capital, before rousing speeches were heard at leafy Merrion Square, near government buildings.

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Karen, 39, who hails from Portland, Oregon, is an accomplished speaker, travelling in the US and internationally to advocate for the inclusion and advancement of those with Down Syndrome.

“I am very proud to be here today to stand up for life, for all life, for the life of the unborn child even if that child will be born with Down Syndrome’’, Karen began to rapturous applause from the tens of thousands who had marched across the city in defiance of government plans to remove Ireland’s constitutional protection for the unborn.

‘’I am from the US’’, Karen continued, ‘’and in my country, and in many countries all around the world, babies who may have Down Syndrome are being wiped out, even before they take their first breath. But not here. Not today. Not in your country. Not in Ireland!’’

Referencing the protection afforded to the unborn child by the 8th amendment, inserted into the Irish Constitution by referendum in 1983, Ms. Gaffney implored of Ireland and beyond;

‘’Give us the chance to be born and we will live up to the promise of the life you have protected for us!’’

Earlier in the march, the cortège had passed through a small but angry ‘Repeal the 8th’ counter protest of 200 abortion rights advocates, many of whom screamed abuse at pro-life marchers as they passed along the stretch of O’Connell Street where the opposing groups met.

Leftist flags, green and blue hair, and vulgarity typified the counter demonstration, which despite its small numbers has the ideological support of the country’s media establishment.

Speaking after the rally, long distance swimmer Karen, who has swum the English Channel, Lake Tahoe and the shark infested waters between Alcatraz and San Francisco, explained to the Gateway Pundit why she had traveled to the country of her ancestors to ‘’make a stand for life.’’

Faced with a pre-natal screening industry which now sees 90% of Down Syndrome babies destroyed before birth in the neighboring UK, and a similar pattern developing elsewhere, the internet sensation explained that rather than being a burden, a Down Syndrome child, like every child, is a blessing with much potential.

‘’Down Syndrome is a life worth saving. Down Syndrome is a life worth choosing….Down Syndrome is a life worth living’’, the charming 39-year-old, living proof of her own words, explained to the Gateway Pundit.

Photo Credits: Sean Feeney, Stephen McElligott, Paul Noble