License to question authority

February 2002
Our application to obtain a license as a first trimester abortion clinic is officially denied. We enter an appeal to this decision. Ite, our lawyer, works tirelessly to find all the relevant ministerial precedents and court cases. Gunilla, our gynaecologist, gathers signatures for the medical expertise report to fully endorse Women on Waves' conclusion that first trimester abortions can be provided safely at sea. The report is signed by more than 100 doctors, gynaecologists, other experts and two marine doctors. Wij Vrouwen Eisen, a Dutch women’s organisation, helps us by lobbying the government.

March 2002
A referendum for a new abortion law is held in Ireland.

It is 6 months since Women on Waves set sail on its maiden voyage to Ireland in June 2001. While the ship is in Ireland more than 300 Irish women call the ship's hotline. Suddenly the real need for legal abortion becomes visible. Political refugees not in possession of travel documents, schoolgirls, mothers with children, women with lower incomes, all of them with good reasons why they can not make the trip to England to get a legal abortion. The ship opens up Pandora’s box. One Irish journalist even apologises for what she attributes to her middle class mentality that led her to assume in an earlier article that there was no need for the ship because all Irish women could easily travel to England for a legal abortion. Although the ship is front-page news all over the world, we still face a lot of obstacles during this trip, some of which we can not overcome. For example, we are forced to abandon our plan to provide the abortion pill. We do all that is possible to help the women who have contacted us. During a medical workshop on board the ship, the organisation “Doctors for Choice�? is initiated. Presently more than 150 doctors have become members.

The coming referendum is an initiative of the Irish anti-abortion groups and it proposes further restrictions on abortion, threatening to imprison women for up to 12 years for seeking illegal abortion services. Because of the ship’s visit the abortion rights groups are mobilised and Doctors for Choice is very vocal during the campaign. Thankfully a narrow majority defeats the referendum. The Irish women’s groups tell us that at the very least the ship's visit and the abortion rights organising campaign it inspired were successful in preventing further setbacks for abortion rights in Ireland.
July 2002
The Dutch Minister of Health, Els Borst, confirms in a letter that Women on Waves can legally provide very early abortion services (including the first 45 days of pregnancy) with the abortion pill on board our ship without a license. This is possible within the existing Dutch abortion law because these very early abortions are legally excluded from regulations and thus do not require a special license. The Minister also writes that the services Women on Waves will provide are of high quality, that she supports the goals of Women on Waves and considers our activities ito be n accordance with the international Dutch policy on reproductive rights and health. The letter of the minister means we can continue our activities while sailing in international waters under the Dutch flag albeit under certain conditions. Unfortunately the license we need to provide first trimester abortions is once again denied. Women on Waves file a court appeal to fight the decision denying the license so that we will be able to help more women in the future. The case is expected to be determined in the beginning of 2004.

Following the decision of the minister, there is a long debate in the Dutch parliament and the Christian parties (CDA, SGP, CU and LPF) file a motion asking the minister to withdraw her decision allowing Women on Waves to offer very early abortion services. The motion fails to pass with 69 for and 71 against the motion.