For the last 10 years, the Dutch organisation Women on Waves has been campaigning to remove the taboo surrounding abortion in countries where it is illegal.
The method: the organisation travels to countries where abortion is illegal on a ship with an abortion clinic on board. The abortions are carried out in international waters. Women are also given advice on birth control and the contraceptive pill.
The organisation was set up in September 1999 by Dutch doctor Rebecca Gomperts. Everywhere it goes the ship faces fierce opposition.
For more information about the film:
www.vesselthefilm.com
| The activities of Women on Waves were seriously limited in July 2009 when the cabinet changed the legislation on abortion. As a result, only abortion clinics and hospitals with a licence are permitted to terminate pregnancies. Up to then Women on Waves was able to operate on the basis of written permission from a former Health Minister. Under Dutch law anything that is allowed in the Netherlands is also allowed in international waters. This protection also extended to the women who underwent abortions on board. Now that the organisation's activities are considered illegal in the Netherlands, these women could face prosecution in their own countries.
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