Abortion Drone flight success

27-6-2015: The Abortion Drone left at 11.00 in front of the Konzerthalle Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach in Frankfurt an der Oder and landed at the opposite side of the river in Slubice, Poland. There were no anti-abortion protesters. After the drones left, the German Police tried to intervene but the drone pilots were able to safely land the drones at the Polish side. Two Polish women swallowed the abortion pills that were delivered to them by the drones. The German police confiscated the drone controllers and personal iPads. They pressed criminal charges but it is totally unclear on what grounds. The medicines were provided on prescription by a doctor and both Poland and Germany are part of Schengen.
At 13.00 took place a meeting with presentations of the different organisations and about all aspects of medical abortion in the Hotel Kalinski, Jedności Robotniczej 13, Słubice
The Abortion Drone flight -live streamed live at
https://www.youtube.com/embed/nuA7fkYQy3E

For more press information: +31652052561 or +31612435562 or email info@womenonwaves.org
Feminoteka +48-720 908 973
Agnieszka Stupkiewicz-Turek from Political group Twoj Ruch: +48731537400

The current restrictive Polish abortion abortion law creates social injustice and affects especially the women without financial means or information.  

Even women who would be allowed to have an abortion under the restrictive law, are refused treatment by doctors and hospitals such as the case of the 14 years old raped girl P,  who was denied access to safe and legal abortion services due to harassment and intimidation by hospital workers, the police and others.  Alicja Tysiac suffered severe health consequences and won the case against the Polish  Government  In European Court of Human rights for denying a her  a access to a lawful abortion, but she is still affected by this.(4, 5)

Women in Poland are furthermore denied the possibility to benefit from scientific advances since medical abortion,  one of the essential medicines of the Wold Health Organisation, is not registered in Poland.  (7)

At least 48.000 Polish women per year do not have access to safe legal abortion services.  However the estimates of the WHO are even much higher: approximately 240.000 abortions every year. (1)

Restrictive abortion laws like the one in Poland are violating international human rights agreements such as the right to health. 

The World Health Organisation’s definition of health is: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.(2)

The right to health has been recognised in numerous international human rights treaties, such as: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 25.1 in 1948; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: Article 5 (e) (iv) in 1965; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Article 12.1 in 1966; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: Articles 11 (1) (f), 12 and 14 (2) (b) in 1979; the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child: Article 24; the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families: Articles 28, 43 (e) and 45 (c) in 1990, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Article 25 in 2006. (3)

In October 2011, Anand Grover, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, submitted a report to the UN General Assembly which stated: “Criminal laws penalising and restricting induced abortion are the paradigmatic examples of impermissible barriers to the realization of women's right to health and must be eliminated. These laws infringe women's dignity and autonomy by severely restricting decision-making by women in respect of their sexual and reproductive health”  (6)

 

The Abortion drone  campaign is a collaboration between Women on Waves; Ciocia Basia, Feminoteka Foundation, the 8 th of March women’s rights informal collective “Porozumienie kobiet 8 marca”, Berlin-Irish Pro Choice Solidarity, Codziennik Feministyczny, and the Political group Twoj Ruch.

Polish women who need help with an unwanted pregnancy can call  hotline number +48 (22) 211 8866 or email info@womenonweb.org 

 

 

Resources

1- http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/Life-stages/sexual-and-reproductive-health/activities/abortion/facts-and-figures-about-abortion-in-the-european-region

2- http://www.who.int/about/definition/en/print.html, accessed 2-1-2014

3- Shaw D. Abortion and Post-abortion Care - Volume II Abortion and human rights. Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology Volume 24, Issue 5, October 2010. Pages 633–646.

4- https://www.amnesty.org/en/press-releases/2012/10/poland-must-implement-landmark-european-court-ruling-abortion/

5- http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-79812

6- http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/gashc4018.doc.htm accesses 2-1-2014

7- http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/175556/1/9789241564984_eng.pdf?ua=1

Individual Polish women receives abortion pills delivered by drone.
Individual Polish women receives abortion pills delivered by drone.
Drone waiting for take off
Polish woman taking medicines
German police officers confiscating the drone controller
German police officers taking the controller to their car

Media coverage Abortion Drone Poland 2015

Here you can read all the news article that covered the Abortion Drone story in…