London, England - The world's first "abortion ship" is equipped and ready to sail "within weeks," a spokesperson for the Dutch pro-abortion organization behind the venture said last week, confirming that Ireland would be its first stop.
Women on Waves press officer Joke van Kampen said the group was not giving precise information yet on exactly when and where the ship would dock. It had not received any concrete warnings or threats, she added, but security precautions would be taken.
A 35-meter boat had been chartered, and an abortion facility in a freight container has been placed on the deck, she said. Its crew of around eight would supposedly include a gynecologist, a general practitioner and a nurse.
The ship, the Sea of Change , is the project of Rebecca Gomperts, a Dutch abortion practitioner who wants to do abortions in international waters for women who cannot legally have them in their native countries.
Ireland, a staunchly Roman Catholic country, is one of only three European nations where abortions are severely restricted - in Ireland's case, except in very rare circumstances when the life of the mother is at risk. The other two, Malta and Poland, are also overwhelmingly Catholic.
At the invitation of pro-abortion groups in Ireland, the Women on Waves crew plans to dock in Irish ports "very soon."
There, Van Kampen said from the Netherlands, they would hold "workshops" onboard. Members of the public would be invited to tour the boat, and feature films "in which abortion plays a role" would be shown. Locals would be invited to attend workshops where they would be taught abortion methods, as well as information on pre- and post-abortion counseling, she explained.
Asked what would be the point of this if the abortion advocates would be unable to perform abortions legally in the country, Van Kampen said the only intention was to put forward the pro-abortion claim that abortion was not the complicated and dangerous procedure many people thought it to be. "We found that in Ireland, because of the extremely repressive atmosphere about abortion, very few people - even medically-trained people - know what abortion is about, how safe and how easy it is, and what the different methods are."
Van Kampen said the crew has already set aside specific days for trips: The ship will sail beyond the 12-mile limit and into international waters, where under Dutch law the staff will carry out abortions.
In order to make it more difficult to identify the women having the abortions, she said, the ship would take other visitors on its sailings, who would participate in other activities, such as workshops. In this way, any observer would have no idea that any woman leaving the boat on its return to port had had an abortion onboard.
"No-one will know afterwards who was there for what [purpose]."
An estimated 4,000-6,000 Irish women travel to Britain each year for abortions.
Pro-life advocates in Ireland and elsewhere have expressed outrage that a group of Dutchmen and women are planning to export their pro-abortion laws to countries where life is protected. Van Kampen denied the organization was trying to "impose our weird ideas on the rest of the world."
Bert Dorenbos, president of the Dutch pro-life group Cry for Life, said that claims of the ship not just being about abortion was a sham. "You always have to read between the lines. It's obvious we're not talking about family planning but abortions," he said.
Dorenbos, who is also a board member of the International Right to Life Federation, said other ships providing medical care were already offering advice on pregnancy as were crisis centres set up around the world.
"What they're also doing is denying the existence of the abortion problem...guilt, sorrow, problems seeing other children," he said.
Dorenbos's group plans its own action, involving a prayer meeting on a pier in Rotterdam, to mark the ship's departure and to fight the battle for minds. "In some ways, I'm very happy as many normal people also understand it's a crazy idea...," he said. "It's more a media-oriented event than something to help people."
Last week, the Irish pro-life group Youth Defense dismissed the planned visit by the Dutch ship as a "publicity stunt" and expressed doubts it would change Irish views on abortion.
Youth Defense said it was not planning any protest action. Another group, Human Life International Ireland, hinted that it may be planning a reception on some kind, saying in response to queries that "human life is sacred and must be defended in both temporal and spiritual ways."
"Already our group have put out several thousand letters calling specifically for prayer and fasting against the effect of this ship of death," director Patrick McCrystal said. "Other responses are under discussion."
After Ireland, Van Kampen said, Poland may be a future destination, as the group had received invitations from there.
After decades of legalized abortion under communist rule, Poland in 1993 overturned a law that had been in force since 1956, making 97 percent of all abortions illegal.
Pro-Life Infonet
10. juni 2001