A DAY to celebrate — Forty Days, the American anti-abortionists who stood outside the family planning clinic in Cardiff have gone back home.

There in the US, their message starts with praying on the streets and ends with harassment, including photographing women entering the Pregnancy Advisory service, website hacking and even physical violence.

The counter demonstration of pro-choice men and women stood opposite the prayer vigil in St Mary Street with a very different message. No going back to the days of illegal backstreet abortions which have killed so many desperate women; 200 women die every day around the world from unsafe abortions. For many vulnerable young women, abortions for the sake of their physical or mental health are not easily accessible.

Every one of us has the right to campaign for our beliefs; but let’s hope that tolerance, not US-style fundamentalism, is the message of hope we give to women in crisis.

For us it was a small victory for tolerance thanks to the men and women who stood in the counter demonstration through all winds and weather to stand up for women’s rights.

Ray Davies and Wendy Lewis Pandy Road Caerphilly