THE PRO-LIFE Campaign has slammed plans to airdrop abortion pills to Ireland.
A drone operation successfully delivered pills to two women in Poland just over a week ago.
The drone flew misoprostol and mifepristone, abortion pills approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO), from Frankfurt in Germany to Slubice, a Polish town near the German border, on 27 June.
Women can safely perform medical abortions with the approved pills up to nine weeks into their pregnancies, according to WHO.
Dr Rebecca Gomperts, the director of Dutch pro-choice group Women on Waves, which sent the drone, told Newsweek that the organisation now plans to target Ireland and Argentina, where access to abortion is also strictly limited.
She acknowledged, however, that the potential legal repercussions of delivering abortion pills to women who can be prosecuted for taking them will have to be addressed.
In a statement issued today, Cora Sherlock, deputy chair of the Pro-Life Campaign, said the move is “nothing more than a cheap publicity stunt that shows utter disregard for women’s health and the right to life.”
She described Women on Wave activists as “zealous promoters of unrestricted access to abortion” who ”show zero regard for the lives of unborn babies throughout the entire nine months of pregnancy”.
Restricted access
Women on Waves previously distributed abortion pills to pregnant women from a boat off the coast of Ireland in 2001.
The organisation said it received calls from about 300 women within five days of arriving in Irish waters.
A report published by Amnesty last month notes that 177,000 women and girls have travelled out of Ireland for abortions in England and Wales since 1971.
An estimated 4,000 still make that journey every year.
Women on Waves had not responded to a request for comment at the time of writing.
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