10 years Women on Waves!

The past 10 years:

Women on Waves was founded 10 years ago with the aim to prevent unsafe abortions and unwanted pregnancies by providing sexual health services including early medical abortions with pills, on board a Dutch ship outside the territorial waters of countries where abortion is illegal.
In the last 10 years Women on Waves has created enormous public interest after successful campaigns with a ship in Ireland (2001), Poland (2003), Portugal (2004) and Spain (2008). The campaign in Portugal catalyzed the legalization of abortion in February 2007.
Unfortunately, in June 2009 the Dutch government changed the abortion law and claims that the early abortion services Women on Waves used to provide legally on board the ship now fall under the criminal law. Women on Waves disagrees with this interpretation by the Dutch government and will try to get an official legal interpretation of the new regulation so that there are no unclarities during the next sailing campaigns.

The coming 10 years:

Although legalization of abortion is important, medical abortion with pills (misoprostol with or without mifepristone) now gives women the possibility to take their lives in their own hand again irrespective of the legality of abortion and the availability or willingness of doctors. Scientific research has shown that women are able to do medical abortions themselves at home and making information and medical abortion easily available to women
themselves can save women?s lives. Therefore Women on Waves now focuses on empowering women how to do a (medical) abortion safely themselves by distributing information through stickers, the internet and by supporting the creation of safe abortion telephone hotlines by women?s organizations. Women on Waves started a telephone helpline for the first time during the campaign in Portugal in 2004 which continued to work until
abortion was legalized there in 2007. Safe abortion hotlines have recently been launched in Ecuador (june 2008) and Chile (june 2009) after Women on Waves provided training and technical support.
Women on Waves will continue to train local women's organisation and support the launch of safe abortion hotlines and work in every other possible way to guarantee that women all over the world have access to information and medical abortions.

How can you help:

Help us distribute information about how a woman can do a safe abortion herself by printing the stickers from our website (www.womenonwaves.org/set-1540-en.html); taking them with you when you travel to a country where abortion is illegal and paste them in any public bathroom, waiting room, phone boots and other place you can think of.

You can also help with a donation, especially now your donation is much needed and very appreciated. For information about how you can make a donation see www.womenonwaves.org/set-427-en.html)