Here is a sample of the press coverage following the launch of the safe abortion hotline in Pakistan.

Links Press

Radio Netherlands Worldwide:
Pakistan: Abortion pill replaces hot oil and coat hangers
www.rnw.nl/english/article/pakistan-abortion-pill-replaces-hot-oil-and-coat-hangers

The Independant (UK):
Abortion hotline in Pakistan faces violent opposition
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/abortion-hotline-in-pakistan-faces-violent-opposition-2011540.html

Newstrack India:
Abortion hotline in Pakistan faces criticism
www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/165763

European Pro-Choice Network:
europeanprochoicenetwork.wordpress.com/2010/06/25/“suhaile-misoprostol-hotline-launch-in-pakistan”/

The Huffington Post:
www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/28/pakistani-abortion-hotlin_n_627951.html

PBS Wideangle:
www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/blog/world-links-blood-phones-abortion-hotline-in-pakistan/5838/

De Verdieping Trouw:
Women on Waves Promoot in Pakistan Legale 'abortuspil'
June 26, 2010, pg. 4
www.trouw.nl/digitalekrant/

Ms Magazine www.msmagazine.com/news/uswirestory.asp?ID=12477

Atremisa Noticias:
Pakistán: Lanzan línea de atención telefónica sobre Misoprostol
...

Links Press

www.theclinic.cl/2009/07/30/el-correo-del-dinero-1-aborto-a-luca/

www.publimetro.cl/content/view/523510/Fono-aborto-desata-escandalo-e-indignacion-en-organizaciones-pro-vida.html#content-top

www.rpp.com.pe/2009-05-28-lanzan-en-chile-linea-telefonica-para-orientar-abortos-con-farmacos-en-casa-noticia_184394.html

www.australtemuco.cl/prontus4_noticias/site/extra/pdp/pdp.html?sec=2&ts=20090530010314&fp=20090530&pag=23

www.elcomercio.com.pe/noticia/292941/lanzan-chile-linea-orientar-abortos-farmacos-casa

www.diariocritico.com/venezuela/venezuela/2009/Mayo/saludvital/152625/chile-linea-telefonica-abortos-en-casa.html

www.nuestratele.tv/content/lanzan-chile-linea-telefonica-orientar-abortos-farmacos-casa

es.noticias.yahoo.com/9/20090528/tsc-lanzan-en-chile-una-linea-telefonica-539a483.html

www.msmagazine.com/news/uswirestory.asp?ID=11726

...

The European Court of Human Rights ruled today that article 10, that guarantees the freedom of expression, was violated when the Portuguese government send warships to prevent the Women on Waves ship from entering Portugal in 2004. With a ship, Women on Waves sails to countries where abortion is illegal. After sailing to international waters, early medical abortions can be provided safely and legally. National penal legislation, and thus also abortion laws, extends only to territorial waters; outside that 12-miles radius the law of the country where the ship is registered applies. Women on Waves’ mission is to prevent unsafe abortions and empower women to exercise their human right to physical and mental autonomy. Every year 20 million women resort to unsafe abortion services as a result of which 70.000 women die unnecessary.
The case was filed by Women on Waves and two Portuguese associations, Clube Safo and Não te Prives (for the press release and the ruling of the ECHR please visit echrblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/women-on-waves.html

The purpose of the ships visit to Portugal was to call attention to the consequences of illegal abortion, to give information and sexual health education and to catalyze change of the restrictive abortion law. Until 2007, when abortion was legalized Portugal was the only country within the EU that actively prosecuted women and doctors for illegal abortion.
When the ship arrived at Portuguese national waters, the Portuguese minister of Defense forbade the ship to enter national waters. Even though the ship did not violate any Portuguese, Dutch or international laws with the activities on board.
The minister of Defense even send two war ships to monitor the ship Borndiep during 24 hours a day while it was drifting in international waters. The majority of Portuguese population supported the campaign.
Early December 2004, only two mo...

Within 2 years of the Women on waves ships campaign, the Spanish senate approved a new law on sexual and reproductive health, which relaxes restrictions on women’s access to abortion on February 24, 2010

The law allows abortion under any circumstances at up to 14 weeks’ gestation and declares the procedure a woman’s right. It also permits abortion at up to 22 weeks if two doctors certify that the pregnancy poses a serious threat to the woman’s life or health, as well as in cases of fetal impairment, and beyond 22 weeks in cases of severe fetal impairment. Previously, safe abortion was widely available in Spain, but was legal only to save the life of a woman, or to preserve her physical and mental health.

News search on Google showed 658 articles from news agencies of all European countries, United States and South America

For more television coverage about the visit of the women on waves ship please click on one of these links

International

www.euronews.net/es/article/17/10/2008/abortion-boat-challenges-spanish-law/

www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/artikkel.php?artid=538485

www.eluniverso.com/2008/10/18/0001/14/CAD177CB3EB3434AB86A2C02BB09E67C.html

Spain

www.vinalopodigital.net/vinalopodigital/modules/news/article.php?storyid=828

www.rtve.es/mediateca/audios/20081016/barco-ong-pro-aborto-llegado-puerto-valencia-rne/318022.shtml

www.rtve.es/noticias/20081020/una-mujer-bordo-del-barco-abortista-ley-espanola-una-secuela-sociedad-machista/180610.shtml

...

Press Information

From October 15-22: +34 610065157
Before and after October 15-22: +31652052561 or +31204650004
Or send an email to press@womenonwaves.org

Help

Spanish women in need of help can call (+34) 600050553

Program

For the program during the ship?s visit please click here

Women on Waves

Women on Waves works to guarantee the right to objective sexual education, availability of contraceptives and legal and safe abortion services. In countries where abortion is illegal, we call attention to the dire situation of women due to illegal and unsafe abortions. Every year 20 million women have to resort to invasive illegal and unsafe abortions as a result of which 68.000 women die unnecessary.
Women with early unwanted pregnancies will be able to receive the abortion pill legally and safely on board the Women on Waves ship outside the territorial waters of countries where abortion is illegal. Medical abortion is very safe and effective. Counseling, treatment and aftercare will be done according to High Dutch standards.

At the invitation of local women?s organizations, Women on Waves sailed before to Ireland in 2001, Poland in 2003 and Portugal in 2004, where abortion was legalized in 2007.

Abortion in Spain

In Spain, abortion is only legal in case the pregnancy poses a threat to the physical or mental health of the woman, or in case of rape or fetal malformations. Every year approximately 100.000 abortions take place in Spain, once a psychiatrist has determined that the woman's mental health is endangered.

There is a great lack of clarity about the Spanish abortion law. This recently led to the prosecutions of Spanish abortion doctors, the closure of abortion clinics and the investigation of Spanish women who had an abortions. Also, a Dutch woman from Boxtel, who had a late abortion in Spain in 2007, is still under investigation in the Netherlands.

The Spanish government has now appointed a committee to recommend changes to the abortion law.

By inviting of the Women on Waves ship, the Spanish organizations want to urge the Spanish government to:

- Remove abortion from the penal code. Abortion is a regular medical procedure.

- Stop the criminalization of wo...

Aqui tentamos dar uma ideia da intensa cobertura mediática na viagem de 2004 a Portugal. Aqui apenas nos é possível reproduzir alguns artigos da imprensa. A cobertura televisiva em todos os canais é demasiado para um web site.

For more then 2 weeks the Women on Waves ship was the main topic in all newspapers, television and radio. Abortion was discussed openly and in depth in the media, on the streets, in homes, bars and parliament. During our stay we witnessed an enormous change in the way the discussion about abortion takes place. In newspapers and on television the issue was finally discussed with substantial arguments and the need for this medical service by women was addressed. Most of the international media also covered the story. BBC news broadcasted several news reports and there have been articles in all main American and European newspapers. A documentary about the project has been made by the BBC programme ‘Correspondent’.

This is the ( incomplete) list of the press coverage in Poland. You can also find links to some articles themselves.

International

BBC News, 7-6-2003
Truth TV News Archive, 7-6-2003
Irish News, 8-6-2003
Expatica.com, 20-6-2003
Guardian Unlimited, 20-6-2003
Reuters Foundation, 20-6-2003
Reuters Foundation, 21-6-2003
BBC News, 22-6-2003
News-Journal Corporation, 22-6-2003
Indymedia 22-06-2003
Yahoo! News UK& Ireland, 22-6-2003
WorldNetDaily, 22-6-2003
BBC News, 23-6-2003
crosswalk.com, 23-6-2003
Expatica.com, 23-6-2003
iVillage, 23-6-2003
London Free Press, 23-6-2003
National Center for Women and Policing, 23-6-2003
RFE/RL Newsline, 23-6-2003
BBC News, 24-6-2003
Die Tageszeitung, 24-6-2003
Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, newsletter, 24-06-2003
Fox News, 24-6-2003
Guardian Unlimited, 24-6-2003
Kaiser Network, 24-6-2003
les Penelopes, 24-6-2003
The New York Times, 24-6-2003
BBC News, 25-6-2003
Diario de Noticias 25-06-2003
El Pais, 25-06-2003
lbo-talk, 25-6-2003
MaconTelegraph.com, 25-6-2003
The Age, 25-6-2003
The Washington Times, 25-6-2003
Associated Press, 26-06-2003
Gazel Beskid, 26-6-2003
Herald Sun, 26-6-2003
Hintergrund, 26-6-2003
The Daily Texan, 26-6-2003
The New York Times, 26-6-2003
Yahoo! Deutschland, 26-6-2003
BBC News, 27-6-2003
Deutsche Welle, 27-6-2003
globeandmail.com...

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
...