'Abortion Ship' suspends voyages due to changes in Dutch law

Amsterdam, Netherlands, Aug 10, 2009 / 12:29 pm

The ship “Aurora,” sponsored by  the abortion organization “Women on Waves,” which provides abortions in international waters off countries where the practice is illegal, will remain docked due to changes in Dutch law.
 
The Aurora, under the direction of 43 year-old feminist Rebecca Gomperts, was about to set out on a new voyage, when the Dutch Congress passed a law modifying the conditions under which a vessel may sail under the country’s flag.
 
The abortion ship had been sailing under the Dutch flag as it anchored off the coast of countries where abortion was illegal, in order to offer the abortion drug RU-486 to women.
 
Gomperts, who also belongs to Greenpeace, recently announced that a new voyage to the coasts of Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Nicaragua would have to be suspended due the change in Dutch law that vessels involved in activities that violate the laws of other countries could no longer fly the country’s flag.
 
Without the flag, the ship no longer has immunity and could therefore be seized by the military or coast guard forces of the country in question.
 
Despite a report in the British daily, “The Independent,” officials at the South American offices of Greenpeace have denied any kind of relationship with Women on Waves and said their organization “is devoted to environmental issues, and therefore the termination of pregnancies is not a part of our campaigns.”