Floating Abortion Clinic Sails to Ireland Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Saturday June 9 10:42 PM ET Dutch Abortion Ship Set for Stormy Trip By Philip Blenkinsop AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch ship offering onboard abortions will sail for Ireland this week 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, aims to provide 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. "We hope to provide a catalyst for legalization...We simply want to give women a choice. Public awareness is the first step," Women on Waves founder Rebecca Gomperts told Reuters. Gomperts, a qualified doctor who started the group in 1999, previously provided medical assistance aboard Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior ship. 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. "We want to stress that we are offering a whole range of family planning information to women and not just abortions," Gomperts said. 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. "Every five or so minutes a woman is dying," Gomperts said. Some 20 million of the 53 million abortions carried out could be categorized as unsafe, she said. Where abortion is legal, safe and available, complication rates are less than one percent, Women on Waves says. IRISH PILOT PROJECT First stop will be Ireland, where the ship will moor for up to a month. Gomperts described the trip as a pilot project. Further legs of the journey will depend on its success. Gomperts said Women on Waves had been invited to Ireland by local organizations and that she had considerable support there. A year ago, talk of taking a similar boat to Malta incensed politicians and the island's Roman Catholic bishops. The government said it would prosecute anyone helping to arrange abortion services. In the end, the trip never happened. In Ireland and off the coast at least, Gomperts says Women on Waves will strictly adhere to the law. "After-care is fine. Women who have abortions in Britain and return already get that. It's just the operations that are illegal," she said, adding that the abortions themselves would be available for a nominal fee. 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, plus a nurse, will join the crew for the trip. The current whereabouts of the ship are a closely guarded secret until it actually sails, which could be as early as Monday, but television footage suggests Rotterdam is the departure point. CRY FOR LIFE PROTEST The initiative has so far raised relatively few hackles in a country where so-called pro-choice options are the norm. In April, the Netherlands became the first country to legalese euthanasia after its Senate voted in favor of mercy killings. Dutch Development Aid Minister Eveline Herfkens has said she is a supporter of the scheme, although the Dutch government itself takes a neutral stance. However, not everyone is in favor. Some suggest the export of its liberal norms is a form of Dutch arrogance. Bert Dorenbos, president of Cry for Life, told Reuters that the talk of women's choice was a sham. "You always have to read between the lines. It's obvious we're not talking about family planning but abortions," he said. Dorenbos, who is also a board member of the International Right to Life Federation, said other ships providing medical care were already offering advice on pregnancy as were crisis centers set up around the world. "What they're also doing is denying the existence of the abortion problem...guilt, sorrow, problems seeing other children," he said. Dorenbos's group plans its own action, involving a prayer meeting on a pier in Rotterdam, to mark the ship's departure and to fight the battle for minds. "In some ways, I'm very happy as many normal people also understand it's a crazy idea...," he said. "It's more a media-oriented event than something to help people." ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytfem-06.13.01-14:53:54-25501