‘Women are capable of doing this’: the doctor defying local laws to provide safe abortions by sea or mail

Dr Rebecca Gomperts made waves providing abortion in international waters around the world. Now she’s prepared to help American women

Moira Donegan
Sun 12 Dec 2021

It’s Sunday morning, less than a week after the US supreme court signaled that it was ready to pave the way for new restrictions on abortion rights in the US, and I’m on the phone with a Dutch abortion provider who has watched the proceedings from half a world away.

Dr Rebecca Gomperts tells me that she’s shocked with the situation in Texas, which recently enacted a near total ban on legal abortion – not because the state government passed the law, but because doctors in the state are largely complying with it.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/12/rebecca-gomperts-doctor-defying-laws-abortions

UK – Pills in the post: how Covid reopened the abortion wars

As some European countries rolled out ‘telemed’ abortion, others shut down access completely.

by Sarah Hurtes and Daniel Boffey
Wed 21 Apr 2021

Kay, 34, realised her period was late a month into Britain’s lockdown. The coronavirus death count was spiralling across the country. Covid-19 was putting the NHS under unprecedented strain and Boris Johnson had given the British people what he described as “a very simple instruction” in an address to the nation from Downing Street: “You must stay at home.”

A worrying, unsettling time, and Kay, a mother of a six-year-old girl, needed to get hold of a pregnancy test kit. She went online and, two days later, took delivery of the test, learning of a positive result via two pink lines. It was the news she had dreaded.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/21/pills-in-the-post-how-covid-reopened-the-abortion-wars

21.04.2021

Commentary

Featured

1967 Abortion Act

abortion is essential healthcare

abortion pills by mail

ACAI

access to abortion during lockdown

Agenda Europe

British Pregnancy Advisory Service

Celia Herrero Medina

Christian Concern

CitizenGO

Covid-19 and abortion

Federation for Women and Family Planning

Fundacja Pro-Prawo do Życia

MSI Reproductive Choices

Royal College of Midwives

self-managed abortion

Spanish abortion clinics association

telemedicine

telemedicine abortion

The Dutch approach to abortion: leading or lagging in guaranteeing women’s rights?

28 SEP 2020
By Lisa Juanola, KIT SRHR Advisor and Irene de Vries, KIT Advisor on SRHR, Maternal and Newborn Care.

Internationally, the fight for the right to safe and legal abortion is ongoing. The Netherlands is blessed with liberal laws and good access to safe abortion care, meaning it often serves as an example. The Netherlands is also a leading country when it comes to women’s rights and reproductive health. However, things could be even better and more women-friendly. What does The Netherlands have to offer in the global fight for safe and legal abortion, and what can we learn from international developments in this field?

As an evaluation shows, the Dutch ‘Termination of Pregnancy Act’ is working well. The number of terminations is stable at around 8.6 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 45, and The Netherlands has one of the lowest rates of abortion in the world.

Continued: https://www.kit.nl/the-dutch-approach-to-abortion-leading-or-lagging-in-guaranteeing-womens-rights/

Dutch abortion activist lands on Time Magazine’s 100 most influential list

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Rebecca Gomperts is one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people this year. The Dutch activist has dedicated her life to trying to get women safe access to abortions in countries where abortion is illegal.

Gomperts is the founder of Women on Waves, which involves a ship with an on board abortion clinic. Women are taken from countries where abortion is illegal by boat to this ship on international waters, where they can get the treatment they need.

Continued: https://nltimes.nl/2020/09/23/dutch-abortion-activist-lands-time-magazines-100-influential-list

23.09.2020

TIME 100: Rebecca Gomperts is among the 100 most influential people of 2020

For immediate release, September 23nd, 2020

Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, founder of Women on Web, Women on Waves and AidAccess, has been chosen among the 100 most influential people of the world in 2020 by Time magazine.

Cecile Richards writes for Time 100: "In this moment of fear and uncertainty, Gomperts is a beacon of hope, standing up for the principle that safe abortion is a human right."

The full list of the Time most influential people of 2020 can be seen here: time.com/time100

Continued: https://www.womenonwaves.org/en/page/7616/time-100-rebecca-gomperts-founder-of-women-on-web-is-among-the-100-most-influ

Netherlands – Court rejects plea for easier access to abortion pills

Court rejects plea for easier access to abortion pills

April 11, 2020

Judges in The Hague have rejected a court application to force the health ministry to make the abortion pill available to women who are unable to make the requisite visit to an clinic because of the corona crisis.

Women who want to terminate an early pregnancy are bound by law to visit an abortion clinic before they can be given the drugs. However, the current coronavirus restrictions are making this impossible for at least two women in the Netherlands who are self-isolating, pro-abortion organisation Women on Waves and women’s support agency Bureau Clara Wichmann said last week.

Continued: https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/04/court-rejects-plea-for-easier-access-to-abortion-pills/

11.04.2020

Featured

News

Bureau Clara Wichmann

Covid-19 and abortion

Netherlands – Health minister urged to guarantee abortion pill access amid corona restrictions

Health minister urged to guarantee abortion pill access amid corona restrictions

April 3, 2020

Pro-abortion organisation Women on Waves and women’s support agency Bureau Clara Wichmann are urging health minister Hugo de Jonge to act swiftly to make the abortion pill available to women who are unable to make the requisite visit to an abortion clinic because of the corona crisis.

Women who want to terminate an early pregnancy are bound by law to visit an abortion clinic before they can be given the drugs. The current coronavirus restrictions are making this impossible for at least two women in the Netherlands who are self-isolating, the organisations said. Both women want to terminate their pregnancy within the first trimester using the abortion pill.

Continued: https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/04/health-minister-urged-to-guarantee-abortion-pill-access-amid-corona-restrictions/

Netherlands – “Abortion buddies” to help pregnant women as protesters get more intimidating

“Abortion buddies” to help pregnant women as protesters get more intimidating

By Janene Pieters
on March 2, 2020

From Monday, women visiting abortion clinics in Rotterdam and The Hague can call on an "abortion buddy" to escort them into the clinic and past the anti-abortion protesters often hanging around the clinics. The around 20 volunteers' task is to accompany women as they enter the clinic and be a screen for these already vulnerable women against the protesters, at the initiative of feminism platform De Bovengrondse and the Humanistisch Verbond.

Last year, a majority in the lower house of Dutch parliament supported letting municipalities set up "buffer zones" around abortion clinics in the Netherlands. No anti-abortion protesters should be allowed in these buffer zones, to allow women to enter abortion clinics un-harassed. But a year later, the protests are continuing unabated, and even increasing at some clinics, according to a survey by De Bovengrondse and the Humanistisch Verbond among 11 of the 14 abortion clinics in the Netherlands.

Continued: https://nltimes.nl/2020/03/02/abortion-buddies-help-pregnant-women-protesters-get-intimidating

European Doctor Who Prescribes Abortion Pills to U.S. Women Online Sues FDA

European Doctor Who Prescribes Abortion Pills to U.S. Women Online Sues FDA

September 9, 2019
Sarah McCammon

A European doctor who prescribes abortion pills to American women over the Internet is suing the Food and Drug Administration in an effort to continue providing the medications to patients in the United States.

The lawsuit being filed Monday in federal court in Idaho names several federal officials, including U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/09/758871490/european-doctor-who-prescribes-abortion-pills-to-u-s-women-online-sues-fda

USA – As access to abortion gets harder in the US, women turn to an online service in the Netherlands

As access to abortion gets harder in the US, women turn to an online service in the Netherlands

December 17, 2018
By Allison Herrera
(also a podcast)

Marie was 19 when a pregnancy test she took in the bathroom at work came out positive. That was a couple of years ago. Marie, a waitress, thought to herself, "I really can't afford to take care of a child."

It was her second pregnancy and the second time she needed an abortion. Marie decided not to go to a clinic this time, though.

Continued: https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-12-17/access-abortion-gets-harder-us-women-turn-online-service-netherlands