In 1999 when Rebecca Gomperts decided to promote medical abortion, she brought with her a volatile mix: a doctor’s license, a four year art degree, and year as a resident physician and environmental activist on the Greenpeace ship Rainbow II.
Her first project was to a create a functional abortion clinic, A-Portable, that was also a sculpture. A-Portable, containing a supply of abortion pills, was installed on a ship. As the ship sailed around, art object status successfully prevented hostile nations from confiscating the medication carried onboard.
During its voyages, the ship was greeted by grateful women and by hostile crowds of antiabortionists. The most dramatic flashpoint came from the panicked right wing government of Portugal that sent out a warship to confront the Abortion Ship. The people aboard the Abortion Ship decided not to press the issue, and, because of all the publicity, Dr. Gomperts was able instead to promote her cause on Portuguese TV. The whole story is told in the documentary "Vessel".
At about this time Women on Waves switched over to Women on Web and AidAccess. Ports can be closed, but it is much more difficult to control the internet. Minus the ship, Gomperts and her group traveled to Ecuador, where they persuaded abortion activists to hang a medical abortion banner on the enormous statue, Virgin of Quito (also known as the Virgin of Apocalypse or the Dancing Virgin). They also festooned walls with graffiti that detailed how to obtain a medical abortion.
Their last expedition was to Tanzania, where it was too dangerous for publicity. There they went into villages and directly trained people how to obtain and administer medical abortions.
The Abortion Ship may have outlived is usefulness, but its spirit lives on. When Texas entered into an antiabortion frenzy, the American version of AidAccess, know as Code C team up with a local Texan abortion rights group to promote abortion pills.
They have been able to inspire local activists:
Carmen, a college student at Texas Tech University, was walking near her campus’ Student Union Building when she spotted a woman handing out gum in a space designated as a “free speech area.” Curious what the catch was, Carmen accepted the gum, which came with a modern, jewel-toned comic of two women talking. On the backside was a QR code linking to information about how to buy abortion pills on the down-low.
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Since accepting the gum, Carmen has become an ambassador for Plan C, an organization that shares information about how to discreetly end a pregnancy, which the FDA has approved up to the 10th week . She expects residents of Lubbock, where 62% of voters opted to ban all abortions there in May, will be “headhunting” for anyone wanting to end a pregnancy in their city, where 40,000 college students make up 15% of the population. She feels now is the time to be brave and is posting stickers with that QR code around town. (Bustle, Oct. 4, 2021)
Spreading the word is crucial. The Atlantic, Oct.12, 2021 has an article containing a poll on medical abortion:
Only 5 percent of Americans have heard of Aid Access, …. and only 13 percent have heard of Plan C, a website that provides information on different mail-order-abortion services by state, according to a new Atlantic/Leger poll. Some people may vaguely know that medication abortions exist, but don’t know the names of the organizations that mail them. However, most poll respondents said that they weren’t aware of any backup options for abortion if a clinic is not accessible.
The Intercept, Oct.11, 2021 also has an article that includes a paragraph promoting medical abortion
If the president meant what he said in vowing to “launch a whole-of-government effort” to protect the right to abortion in Texas, then we must demand that he live up to his word swiftly. S.B. 8 will not be the last of such schemes. The Food and Drug Administration should immediately permit the sale of medical abortion pills in pharmacies and through the mail, rather than in person through a medical professional. The pills should be made available on demand without prescription.
Amen.
The time for supporting medical abortion is now. This momentous advance in abortion care will help women all over world.