Low tide for Women on Waves

Dutch health authorities have filed suit against the Women on Waves (WoW) medical team for administering the RU 486 (Mifegyn) abortion pill to Spanish women from a boat owned by the family planning NGO off the coast of Spain in 2008. De Volkskrant explains that the mission enabled the women to circumvent Spain's highly restrictive abortion laws. The health authority's case is based on the fact that the boat used for the initiative was a sailing vessel — and not WoW's ocean-going clinic the Aurora, which is fully equipped and compliant with health authority standards, but more costly to run. Under the terms of the latest Dutch legislation on pregnancy termination, the administration of RU 486 at any time is considered a de jureabortion, which must be preceded by a medical evaluation of the stage of pregnancy in a hospital or clinic. WoW has dismissed the complaint as an obstructionist manoeuvre on the part of the government.