Politics
Tuesday April 24, 2007
See today's LifeSiteNews stories
Dutch Abortion Boat Granted License for International Abortions
By Gudrun Schultz
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, April 24, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Dutch abortion boat has been granted government permission to perform abortions in international waters on women up to 7 weeks pregnant, despite a massive national and international outcry, the Times online reported earlier today.
The boat has caused an uproar at home in the Netherlands and abroad. Condemned by governments and pro-life organizations as a propaganda tool for pro-abortion activists, the abortion boat has come under intense criticism for offering to perform abortions on women from countries where the procedure is illegal.
Operated by Women on Waves, the abortion boat was effectively shut down in 2004 after then-public health minister Clémence Ross imposed a ban on travel into international waters, forbidding the boat to travel outside a radius of 25 km from Amsterdam’s Slotervaart hospital.
The ban instituted by Ross was overturned by the Council of State last year, which said Ross had failed to adequately justify the decision to restrict the boat‘s activities. The coalition parties now in power have said they are left with no choice but to permit the boat to sail into international waters.
Vowing to target the nations of Ireland, Poland and Malta where abortion is illegal, Women on Waves is not satisfied with the terms of their license and intend to challenge the seven week restriction on gestational limits for abortion, according to the ANP, seeking the right to abort babies throughout the full first trimester of pregnancy.
See previous LifeSiteNews coverage:
Dutch Abortion Boat Sails for Portugal
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/aug/04082303.html
No Abortions in International Waters for Dutch Abortion Boat, Court Rules
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/aug/04081908.html
Dutch Abortion Boat Merely a Propaganda Machine Say Pro-Life Leaders
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/jul/03070704.html
Back to TopSHARE THIS STORY: E-mail Print Newsvine Digg Reddit Del.icio.us Facebook
Latest Headlines
- Canada's Governor General Agrees to Suspend Parliament
- Study Shows Fertility Patients Want Frozen Embryonic Children Buried
- Planned Parenthood Suspends Employee Caught Covering Up Rape of 13-Year-Old
- Donate any Amount to LSN on Behalf of a Loved One and We Will Send Them a Beautiful Christmas Card!
- Grand Duke of Luxembourg Loses Veto Power After Threatening Veto of Euthanasia Law
- Vatican Archbishop Defends Rights of Parents to Educational Choice
- San Francisco Bishop Affirms Church's Role in Prop. 8, Calls for End to Disrespect
- Dutch Murder Case Following Late-Term Abortion in Spain Dropped
- Movie Reviewer for Catholic Bishops' Conference Praises Homosexualist Film - Again
- Vatican Attacked for Defending Natural Family
- Shock: Evangelical Leader Believes in Gay Civil Unions, Says OK to Vote for Obama
- U.K. Catholic Diocese will Continue to Collect Funds for Secularised Adoption Agency
- Purchase of Christmas Music CD By Pro-Life Priest is Great Way to Support LifeSiteNews
Most Read this Week
- Behind the Scenes of Volition: Coincidences and Startling Circumstances
- Ad Showing Woman Seducing Santa Promotes Free Morning-After Pills and Condoms for Christmas
- Movie Reviewer for Catholic Bishops' Conference Praises Homosexualist Film - Again
- A Painful, Disease-Ridden Death Isn’t So Bad if You’re Just a White, Heterosexual Male
- Abortion Now Number One Cause of Death in Spain
- Catholic Bishop: "Go Right Ahead and Arrest Me" Rather than Obey Freedom of Choice Act
- UK Catholic Adoption Agencies Voluntarily Refuse Religious Opt-Out Clause for Homosexual Adoption
- God is Pro-Choice Says Nun
- University of Calgary Pro-Life Students Victorious - Administration Backs Down from Arrest Threats
- IKEA’s Polish Catalogue Introduces “Ian and Steve” as a Model of the New Family
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.