- Title: NETHERLANDS: A DUTCH SHIP OFFERING ONBOARD ABORTIONS HAS SET OFF FOR IRELAND
- Date: 11th June 2001
- Summary: (U5) SCHEVENINGEN, NETHERLANDS (JUNE 11, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV SHIP NAMED "SEA OF CHANGE" IN HABOUR 0.05 2. SV DUTCH FLAG ON MAST OF SHIP AND PAN DOWN TO DOOR OF GYNAECOLOGICAL CLINIC ON BOARD SHIP 0.16 3. SV OF TREATMENT ROOMS IN SHIP (2 SHOTS) 0.33 4. SLV FOUNDER OF THE ABORTION SHIP PROJECT REBECCA GOMPERTS WALKING UP SHIP'S STEPS 0.40 5. MCU FOUNDER OF THE ABORTION SHIP PROJECT REBECCA GOMPERTS SAYING:"Every five minutes somewhere in the world a woman is dying because she has been denied access to a safe and legal abortion. If they don't die it is the women without means who are suffering the consequences if they don't have the information and they don't have the means to pay for safe services. We consider this an enormous medical problem. It is one of the biggest medical problems of women related to pregnancy. we consider this a gross violation of women's rights and we are unwilling to stand by and do nothing about it." (ENGLISH) 1.16 6. SV SHIP 1.20 7. MCU FOUNDER OF THE ABORTION SHIP PROJECT REBECCA GOMPER SAYING:"If there is a woman who has an unwanted pregnancy we will do very thorough counselling and discuss all the other options with her. If she is sure she will come on board in harbour and we will sail out to international waters and help her there. And then we can sail back again." (ENLGISH) 1.38 8. SV SHIPS WHEEL 1.47 9. CU MAP PLOTTING 1.55 10. TV MEMBERS OF MEDIA 2.06 11. SV HARBOUR 2.12 12. SV GANGWAY IS DRAWN UP 2.21 13. TV SHIP LEAVING HARBOUR 2.45 14. SLV WOMEN ON BOARD SHIP WAVING 2.56 15. LV SHIP SOUNDING ITS HORN 3.03 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 26th June 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SCHEVENINGEN, NETHERLANDS
- Country: Netherlands
- Reuters ID: LVA9X72B229EIYTPVB035S27VCB8
- Story Text: A Dutch ship offering onboard abortions has set off for
Ireland from Scheveningen on the first leg of a voyage likely
to whip up a storm of protest in nations where abortions are
illegal and contraceptives frowned upon.
The ship, the Sea of Change, left the Dutch port of
Scheveningen on Monday (June 11), bound for Ireland with the
aim of providing abortions to women outside the territorial
waters of countries where pregnancies are only terminated in
exceptional circumstances.
In a trip that could take in parts of Africa, the
Dutch-based Women on Waves Foundation will also provide
in-port family planning advice to visitors, contraceptives for
those who
ask and workshops on reproductive health issues for lawyers,
doctors, teachers and politicians.
The foundation has already equipped a treatment room in a
shipping container which will be loaded onto a ship chartered
for the voyage. The purpose-built room features a chair
designed for abortion operations.
Up to two doctors and a nurse, will join the crew for the
trip.
The Women on Waves Foundation, funded by private
donations, says its mission is to prevent unwanted
pregnancies, enable women to make informed decisions about
family planning and to ensure safe and legal abortions.
Quoting figures from the U.S-based Alan Guttmacher
Institute which backs family planning, Women on Waves says
more than one third of pregnancies worldwide are unplanned and
that a quarter of these -- about 53 million -- end in
abortion.
Some 25 percent of the world's population live in
countries with highly restrictive abortion laws. Illegal
abortions are still carried out in these nations, but the
often unsafe methods
lead to complications in about 40 percent of cases and to more
than 70,000 deaths a year, according to the foundation.
Founder of the Women on Waves project Rebecca Gomperts
said: "Every five minutes somewhere in the world a woman is
dying because she has been denied access to a safe and legal
abortion. If they don't die it is the women without means who
are suffering the consequences if they don't have the
information and they don't have the means to pay for safe
services. We consider this an enormous medical problem. It is
one of the biggest medical problems of women related to
pregnancy. we consider this a gross violation of women's
rights and we are unwilling to stand by and do nothing about
it."
Gomperts, a qualified doctor who started the group in
1999, previously provided medical assistance aboard
Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior ship.
Some 20 million of the 53 million abortions carried out
could be categorised as unsafe, Gomperts said.
Where abortion is legal, safe and available, complication
rates are less than one percent, Women on Waves says.
First stop will be Ireland, where the ship will moor for
up to a month. Gomperts described the trip as a pilot project.
Gomperts said Women on Waves had been invited to Ireland
by local organisations and that she had considerable support
there.
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