Activities 2023

Leadership in research

Development of a new on demand contraceptive.

A few years ago Women on Waves together with Karolinska Instituted started developing Mifepristone, also known as the abortion pill, as new weekly oral contraceptive.

This method does not have the contraindications or side effects associated with the estrogens and progestins in hormonal contraceptives such as weight gain, loss of libido or feelings of depression. It also does not have the increased risk of breast cancer and thrombosis with use of hormonal contraceptives. 

Weekly use also fits in with users' wishes not to take a pill every day.

Mifepristone is also an effective morning after pill that can used up to 120 hours after unprotected intercourse. Combining a weekly contraceptive and morning after pill, makes on demand use of just one pill possible. 

In May 2022 the Moldovan Department of Health has given approval for the clinical trial.

We were able to raise funds to start the study and in august 2023 the first participant enrolled in the study in Moldova and we included more than 50 participants so far.

Women on Waves is now working together with Karolinska Institutet and Leiden University Medical Centre to also obtain the approvals to do the study in the Netherlands. More than14 medical centra already committed to participate and we hope that we will be able to start enrollment in the fall or winter of 2024.

1. https://msmagazine.com/2024/02/08/contraceptive-pill-mifepristone/
2. https://www.groene.nl/artikel/zelfregie-met-de-allroundpil

Publications

Women on Waves coordinated scientific research for Women on Web, in collaboration with several universities and this resulted in 3 scientific papers that were published in 2023.

• Volodymyr Podolskyi, Kristina Gemzell-Danielsson, Lena Marions & Rebecca Gomperts Preabortion ultrasound – a patient perspective, The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care Volume 28, 2023 - Issue 5, Pages 268-273 https://doi.org/10.1080/13625187.2023.2249158
• Helene Rød a, Rebecca Gomperts b, Hazal Atay c, Britt Pinkowski Tersbøl “In some clinics, they said it’s elective, and then they would refuse”: A Mixed-Methods Study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to abortion services in Germany Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare, Volume 36, June 2023, 100854
• Andreana Dibben, Isabel Stabile, Rebecca Gomperts, James Kohout^, Accessing abortion in a highly restrictive legal regime: characteristics of women and pregnant people in Malta self-managing their abortion through online telemedicine, BMJ Sex Reprod Health, 2023 Feb 15;bmjsrh-2022-201730, doi: 10.1136/bmjsrh-2022-201730

Abortion clinic in Amsterdam

Women on Waves  abortion clinic was founded to support undocumented people for free as the Ducth government does not support abortion services for this groups, who are most in need. In 2023 we provided 270 services and helped 58 undocumented people.

In total 71 people send a follow up all were very satisfied with the service.

" I am so thankful for Women on Waves. I had nowhere to go or the money and the process with you was very fast easy and clear. The doctor was one of the nicest doctors I have met so far, also that she gave me the number to stay in contact during and after the abortion was super helpful and did not make me feel alone."

Support of telemedical abortion service USA

Women on Waves supported Aid Access to provide abortion services to people with unwanted pregnancies in the United States. Aid Access provided almost 85000 abortion services in all US states in 2023.

Since June 2023, Aid Access works with USA abortion providers to serve all USA states with FDA approved tele-medical abortions. These USA abortion providers are registered in states that have adopted laws to protect them against legal action from the states where abortion has been banned, the so called shield law states.

Between 30 and 35% of the people could not pay $150 and received a partial of fully donated services. The providers of Aid Acccess donated abortions services for a value of more than $ 2 million.  Only a small part of these donated services were covered by funding given to Women on Waves and the individual USA providers who work with Aid Access. 

As one woman wrote: " I had all of the support from Aid Access that I could have ever needed. I was so stressed and upset that I was pregnant, a representative from AA got back to me within hours and I had a plan more quickly than I expected. This service changed and saved my life. I cannot imagine what I would have needed to do if I had not found this service. Thank you. So much. Anyone I was in contact with was beyond kind and helpful. I felt supported and safe throughout the whole process."

Aid Access online abortion pill service ranked best for Data Privacy by Wired  and approximately 90 news outlets mentioned Aid Access.

Two scientific papers about Aid Access were published this year.

1. Dana M. Johnson, Sruthi Ramaswamy, Rebecca Gomperts, Experiences with misoprostol-only used for self-managed abortion and acquired from an online or retail pharmacy in the United States, Contraception December 02, 2023 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2023.110345
2. Johnson DM, Michels-Gualtieri M, Gomperts R, Aiken ARA. Safety and effectiveness of self- managed abortion using misoprostol alone acquired from an online telemedicine service in the United States. Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2023;1‐8. doi:10.1363/psrh.12219  

Campaings

In 2023, the supreme court of Mexico ordered that all Mexican states must legalize abortion. It is 6 years after the Abortion Boat campaign  

Conferences

1. Clinton Global Initiative September 2023 Meeting
2. Symposium Onbedoelde Zwangerschappen, 26 september 2023: Rotterdam
3. Navigating the Controversy: Abortion Rights and Reproductive Futures in Europe, 1 December 2023 Sciences Po, Paris, France
4. SIGO conference Milan, Italy December 16 th, Il 98° Congresso Nazionale della Società Italiana di Ginecologia e Ostetricia si svolgerà dal 14 al 16 dicembre 2023 a Milano,
5. OGU (Obstetricians and Gynecologists in Training), is an interest group within SFOG (Swedish Association of Obstetrics & Gynecology) Stockholm Sweden, 20 – 21 april 2023.
6. IGO-Doelencongres 2023 in Rotterdam April, Nederlands-Vlaams Doelencongres Infertiliteit, Gynaecologie en Obstetrie 
7. Dutch Life Sciences Conference, December 7 th in Leiden
8. Presentation at the farewell of Marian J.E. Mourits, MD/PhD, Professor in Gynaecological Oncology University Medical Center Groningen, November 17 th
9. https://debalie.nl/programma/ei-foetus-baby-21-05-2023/
10. https://debalie.nl/programma/het-grote-pil-gesprek-26-09-2023/

Visibility

Awards and recognition

The director of Women on Waves, Rebecca Gomperts, received the lovie awards of 2023 and Forbes 50 women above 50 

The future: 2024

Our work in 2024 will continue focus on the development of mifepristone 50 mg as a weekly and on demand contraceptive. You can also support the study and donate here to support our work to make mifepristone available as an over the counter on demand contraceptive!.