Dublin, Ireland - Abortion advocates who sailed an abortion ship to Ireland to challenge its pro-life laws vowed on Friday to return after acknowledging they lacked permission to conduct abortions and admitting they were no more than a publicity stunt.
Kathleen O'Neill, spokeswoman for the Irish chapter of the Dutch-based Women on Waves group, said the converted fishing trawler Aurora, which docked in Dublin on Thursday, lacked a necessary medical inspection from the Dutch government.
"The ship is medically certified and all of that but in order to obtain a licence to practice or to have abortions outside the territorial waters we needed a medical inspection," she told Reuters.
Women on Waves found out Friday that it lacked two Dutch and Irish licenses, one for operating medical facilities and the other for carrying passengers to sea.
She was referring to plans that the group had announced in advance to provide medical abortions to Irish women by sailing them into international waters where Ireland's abortion laws would not apply. At first the pro-abortion group claimed they would perform dozens of abortions. Then they played down the number of women it might attract, considering the social stigma involved in Ireland. "We hoped for two, or one," said Lizet Kraal, a co-founder of Women on Waves.
The ship may sail back to the Netherlands for its missing license, then return to Ireland in July, or it may sail on to South America or Africa to continue its campaign in pro-life places. However, Aurora costs more than $1,000 a day, and the group's initial support of $117,000 has nearly run out.
"We're probably bringing the ship back in a month, when the licence is there and there are some legal things on the Irish side that need to be sorted," she said.
She claimed the pro-abortion group had been overwhelmed by the interest expressed by Irish women, of whom she said some 250 had signed up for abortions in four days. Even though the ship wouldn't be doing them, O'Neill said said the women would still receive counselling and would be advised of how to proceed with abortions if they so choose.
Many Irish women cancelled abortion appointments at British abortion facilities to such an extent that a spokesman for Marie Stopes International, a British abortion facility chain, said the abortion ship was "not the answer to the problem."
But after the Dutch government announced that its medical staff did not have a license to perform abortions, ship spokesman Joke van Kampen told reporters: "What we are really here for is to get attention for the state that Irish women are in."Overwhelmingly Catholic Ireland has implemented the right to life for mother and unborn child in an amendment to its constitution.
Protests from pro-life groups had been expected when the Aurora, a 35-metre (115-foot) converted fishing trawler, arrived, but the visit sparked more interest from international media than from activists or local citizens.
Maria Davin, a spokeswoman for the Irish Pro-Life campaign, also dismissed the ship's visit as a stunt they would try to ignore. She said: "The Irish people will be getting on with their normal lives. We see this as mainly a publicity stunt."
She added: "There is already a debate under way in Ireland on the issue, there has been for a number of years, and we see Women on Waves as a distraction from that. Any debate is helpful but raising hysteria is not."
Ship director Rebecca Gomparts, asked whether she felt guilty about disappointing Irish women who had sought abortions, she said the pro-abortion group was looking into providing financial assistance.
John Smyth, of the Irish Pro-Life campaign, also dismissed the vessel's Thursday arrival as a publicity stunt and said his group feared protesting would just draw more attention.
Gomperts said Women on Waves had applied for a permit to carry out the abortions but "a technical issue has been turned into a political one." She was pressing the matter with the Dutch government, she added.
Peter McCormack, who said he had voted against abortion in two Irish referendums, said Women on Waves should be sent on its way. "The people have voted against it and they have no right to be here," he said.
Ireland has put the legalization of abortion to a referendum twice since 1983. It was rejected both times.
In a 1992 vote, Irish women were permitted to travel overseas for abortion and providing information on abortions in another state, which invariably means England, was made legal.
Pro-Life Infonet
20. juni 2001