More than 200 Irish and international journalists attend the press conference. The ship Aurora is front page news all over the world. BBC Worldnews, CNN, ABC, NBC and numerous other networks and news agencies cover this groundbreaking event.
Positive press coverage appears in several Irish newspapers. One journalist even apologizes for her middle-class mentality as she had assumed in an earlier article that all Irish women could easily travel to England and that there would be no need for the ship. Another surprise is the CNN online opinion poll. Of the 16,500 participants, 49% are in favor of the ship’s activities.

Due to the overwhelming amount of media all over the world, the press list that follows is incomplete.

International

Colors, 46 October/November 2001
Publico, Portugal 14-10-2001
New York Times Magazine 26-8-2001
Elle, USA September 2001
Elle, France
Time 25-6-2001
India Abroad, 23-6-2001
Frankfurter Rundschau Magazin 23-6-2001
Self magazine August 2001
New York Times, 19-6-01
El Correo, Spain, 18-6-2001
India Times, 17-6-2001
Guardian, 17-6-2001
Der tagesspiegel, Germany 17-6-2001
New York Times 17-06-2001
Chinastar, China, 17-6-2001
Observer, 17-6-2001
Estrella, Spain, 16-6-2001
Guardian 16-6-2001
La Nacion,, Argentina, 16-6-2001
Aftonbladet, Norway, 15-6-2001
Guardian 15-6-2001
The Independent 14-6-2001
L’Express, France 14-6-2001
Suara Merdeka, Azie, 13-6-2001
Cronica, Mexico, 12-6-2001
Folhade S.Paulo, Brazil, 12-6-2001
Associated Press 12-6-20001
Guardian 12-6-2001
Cincinetti Enquirer , 12-6-2001
Berliner Morgenpost 12-6-2001
The Independent 12-6-2001
Der Spiegel 11-6-2001
New York Times 11-6-2001
Allegra, germany Nr 8-2001
Emma, Gemany, Juli/August 2001
Artforum, April 2001

Television

Arte, documentary, 14-8-2001
BBC HardTalk 9-7-2001
CNN Q&A 18-06-2001
VTM Vlaamse TV 18-06-2001
CBS News, 15-6-2001
NBC news 15-06-2001
CNN worldnews 15-6-2001
CNN 15-06-2001
...

The mobile clinic was designed and build by Joep van Lieshout

We decided to go to Ireland first for several reasons. Most importantly, Ireland has a dedicated pro-choice community whose members expressed immediate interest in the project. With the participation of more than 100 Irish volunteers, Women on Waves Ireland was formed. They took charge of all the logistics necessary for the ship's visit and organised workshops with doctors, lawyers, artists and writers. They worked with impressive commitment and continuous energy, making it possible to receive hundreds of visitors on board the ship. Furthermore Ireland is only two days sailing from the Netherlands, which made it a feasible place for a pilot project, and we wanted to raise this issue within the European Union before sailing to other parts of the world .

However, this was the first such effort by Women on Waves and we encountered some problems. We were sailing a Dutch ship and according to Dutch abortion law a clinic needs a special licence to provide terminations after 45 days of pregnancy. The abortion pill, mifepristone + misoprostol, has been registered only for use up to 49 days of pregnancy in the Netherlands, which means its use falls outside the requirement to get authorization to provide the service under Dutch law. Nevertheless, in March 2001 we applied for a licence, so as to forestall any concerns about patient safety on board ship. The treatment-room, had been set up to comply with the requirements of Dutch abortion law. However, three days before sailing, the Ministry of Health in the Netherlands announced that it would inspect the clinic at a date three weeks after the planned Irish trip, to determine whether it could be licensed for first trimester abortion provision.

Then, when the ship was well out to sea and on its way to Ireland, a debate was started in the Dutch Parliament about Women on Waves and its licence, under pressure of questions posed by members of the Christian parties. Although the tone of that debate was genera...