Truth be told, Women on Web is not a beautiful site. And by “beautiful” I’m talking well-designed, easy to read or easy to use. It is none of these things. And yet it is to-the-point, it does a job that needs doing, and having it out there in cyberspace is a beautiful thing, indeed. Using the Internet to circumvent anti-abortion laws in anti-abortion countries from Afghanistan to Haiti to Hong Kong to Poland to the United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe, Women on Web helps women all over the world gain access to medical abortion. Women with unwanted pregnancies can visit the site and, via e-mail, receive a medical consultation with a licensed doctor who, if the patient so wishes, will then prescribe and have sent Mifepristone and Misoprostol, medications intended for other ailments but that also induce abortion. Everything done online and anonymously.
The site is the project of the Dutch non-profit Women on Waves (www.womenonwaves.org), headed by Dr. Rebecca Gomperts. The organization has developed a mobile clinic that makes the most of international law by taking advantage of international waters; since it was founded in 1999, the boat and its crews have sailed all over the globe to numerous countries where abortion is illegal. Once there, the crews dock offshore and offer abortion services (and ferry rides from shore to the boat and back) for those in need. If you don’t need an abortion, don’t turn the page: The Women on Waves site is where you lend your support by giving your money. Hint, hint.