http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,507877,00.html
Rosie Cowan in Dublin Saturday June 16, 2001 The Guardian
From the outside, there was nothing extraordinary about the 40 metre Dutch fishing vessel which crept into the bustling Dublin port - except that it was accompanied by a police guard. But for dozens of women facing unwanted pregnancies in the Irish Republic, where abortion is illegal, the floating termination clinic seemed the answer to their prayers. Those hopes were dashed yesterday when it transpired that the doctors on board, who planned to carry out abortions 12 miles offshore in international waters, where the ship is subject only to Dutch law, did not have the correct paperwork. The team will now only give out contraceptives and hold counselling sessions while in port, although the Amsterdam-based gynaecologist behind the Women on Waves project, Rebecca Gomperts, still intends to sail the Aurora around the world to countries where abortion is illegal when she gets her operating permit. [...] A spokeswoman for the Women on Waves Ireland group, set up to support the venture, said that 80 women had called in the last four days, asking how they could get abortions on the ship. Other counselling services have been inundated and there were reports that some women had cancelled appointments for private abortions in England in the hope that they could get terminations for a nominal fee on board the Aurora. Human rights Dr Gomperts admitted: "We ran into difficulties we had not anticipated. I cannot tell you how my heart bleeds for those women. This is such a terrible disaster. But we are here in support of Irish women who have been denied their human rights and we are calling on women all over the world to support us." The other doctor on board the Aurora, Guuilla Kleiverda, said the medical team hoped to obtain its operating permit very soon but would have to return to the Netherlands to pick it up. The ship's facilities would then be subject to a health inspection and it could be August before it sets sail again. Among the countries the team intends to visit are Poland, Portugal, Malta, Brazil, the Philippines and much of Africa. [...]
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