Issued on: 16/05/2022
Washington (AFP) – Rebecca Gomperts, a 55-year-old Dutch physician, has spent years fighting for women's access to abortion around the world.
Made famous by her "abortion boat," as recounted in the 2014 documentary "Vessel," she and her Women on Waves group have anchored the ship in international waters off the coasts of Poland, Spain, Mexico and other countries, offering medical abortions to women otherwise unable to obtain them.
But Silicon Valley could.
By Rachel M. Cohen
May 7, 2022
In 2018, more than two decades after Dutch physician Rebecca Gomperts first became an activist to deliver abortion pills around the world, she turned to the United States. For years she had dedicated her life to working in countries where the procedure was illegal, and was firm in her refusal to avoid the US, where safe, legalized access was still available. “I think this is a problem the US has to solve itself,” she explained in 2014.
But following the election of President Donald Trump, the desperate requests she received from Americans went up, and the cost barriers in the US were glaring.
Continued: https://www.vox.com/23056530/aid-access-abortion-roe-wade-pills-mifepristone
Women on Web, an international telemedicine abortion service, opens a new service that enables women to request abortion pills before an unwanted pregnancy
For immediate release, 17/02/2022
With the help of this new service, women can request abortion pills in advance and take them as soon as they discover they are pregnant. Women on Web's medical team will prescribe the abortion pills to people who are not yet pregnant but who anticipate that they may need them in the future.
“Abortion pills are an important family planning tool. Having a solution in your medicine cabinet before you are pregnant is a way to feel more protected and prepared. Advance access to abortion pills is especially important for anyone living in a country or community where access to abortion is restricted or limited, or for anyone who considers themselves at high risk of an unwanted pregnancy”, Venny Ala-Siurua, Executive Director, WoW
Continued: https://www.womenonweb.org/en/page/21297/women-on-web-starts-providing-abortion-pills-in-advance
February 9, 2022
Family doctors could be allowed to prescribe abortion pills directly if parliament passes a bill submitted by centre-left parties PvdA and GroenLinks.
The liberal coalition parties VVD and D66 are also supporting the proposed change, which is designed to lower the threshold for women who want to end unwanted pregnancies. A majority of MPs are expected to back the bill, NOS reported.
Continued: https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/02/abortion-pills-to-be-made-available-through-family-doctors/
January 26, 2022
The compulsory five day pre-abortion wait will very likely be abolished as MPs debate a draft bill initiated by D66 on Thursday.
The wait currently applies to all women who are more than 16 days pregnant and want an abortion. It was included in Dutch abortion law when the practice became legal in early 1980s and has been controversial ever since.
Continued: https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/01/paternalistic-compulsory-pre-abortion-wait-will-be-scrapped/
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
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
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/
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
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
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