Dutch abortion ship to fight gov’t travel ban

	Tweet

A Dutch floating abortion clinic banned from sailing abroad after controversial visits to Ireland and Poland pledged on Friday to take the Dutch government to court within weeks to lift the restriction.

The clinic, which offers the abortion pill in international waters to women in countries where it is illegal or more restricted than the Netherlands, was told by the government last week that it could only work within 25 km of Amsterdam.

"The state secretary has basically said we cannot work abroad anymore and this of course defeats the object of our campaign,” said Rebecca Gomperts, the founding doctor of the Women on Waves Foundation, which manages the clinic.

The center-right government granted the clinic a permit to provide first trimester abortions but for the first time stipulated it must stay within 25 km of the Dutch capital in order to be able to consult with a nearby hospital. Women on Waves argues that modern technologies like satellite phones and the Internet enable it to communicate with any hospital while on the open seas.

“We are appealing and we want to go to court within a couple of weeks,” Gomperts told Reuters.

The foundation says a woman dies every five minutes somewhere in the world because of an illegal or unsafe abortion, and that its doctors provide counseling and abortions in international waters where Dutch ships operate under Dutch law.

“These are totally unnecessary deaths and they can be prevented,” said Gomperts, who founded Women on Waves in 1999.

“As a doctor it is totally unacceptable to know that you can help somebody but you have to turn them away. You know they have nowhere to go except to a backstreet abortionist, or to do it themselves. They risk their health and their lives,” she added.

Women on Waves, which leases ships to carry its clinic on campaigns, sailed to Ireland in 2001 and Poland in 2003. Both countries have an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic population and some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the world.

The Netherlands currently holds the six-month rotating presidency of the newly enlarged European Union, which includes predominantly Catholic countries like Portugal, Spain, Poland, Ireland and Italy.

RELATED STORIES:
Women face a higher risk of care home admission due to their partner’s age   Women have bigger pupils than men   When hunger hormone rises, periods may stop   Moderate drinking doesn’t harm bones in women   Abortion foes optimistic at dawn of Bush 2nd term   Osteoporosis care skimpy for African Americans   Study links osteoporosis, gluten intolerance   Recurrent Yeast Infections Associated with Chronic Stress   Britons unaware of breastfeeding benefits: survey   New Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Treatment of Hirsutism   US starts women’s meeting with anti-abortion stand   Menstruation doesn’t greatly affect asthma

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]