No abortions during boat's visit to State, says group

The Women On Waves organisation said yesterday no abortions would be carried out on board the Aurora while the vessel is on a visit to Ireland.

The former trawler, which has the facilities and equipment necessary for carrying out abortions, arrived in Dublin port from the Netherlands on Thursday night.

Speaking at the quayside yesterday, Ms Cathleen O'Neill, of Women On Waves Ireland, said neither surgical abortions nor the abortifacient RU486 pill would be available to women who sought them on board the boat. Some 80 women had been in contact with the organisation seeking abortions in the past five days, she said.

The "first and primary reason" that abortions would not be carried out was that the organisation had been "completely overwhelmed" by the numbers seeking abortion services.

"The second reason is that there are complications with the Dutch law. We deeply, deeply regret that this is happening," she said, adding that the organisation would be in touch with the women who had contacted it and would "enable them and support them to access services". She said the organisation had opened a fund to help these women access abortion services elsewhere.

The Pro-Life Campaign said yesterday it was "unfortunate that this organisation [WOW] has used Irish women for a publicity stunt". Its spokeswoman, Ms Geraldine Martin, said there were "calmer ways of opening up the debate on abortion".

Members of the media were yesterday invited on board, in batches of five, to view the abortion clinic on the ship. Housed in a container strapped on board, it is partitioned into two, with a small counselling area and an operating theatre. In the theatre are a reclining bed, ultrasound equipment for carrying out scans and vacuum equipment to remove the foetus from the womb. Abortions could be carried out up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy, said a gynaecologist on board, Dr Gunilla Kleilverda.

Women On Waves volunteers appeared overwhelmed by the level of press interest in the quayside press conference yesterday afternoon. Some 12 television crews, and over 100 journalists and photographers from Britain, the continent, the United States and Canada stood in driving rain to hear the WOW founder, Dr Rebecca Gomperts, say she was "very happy to be in Ireland".

Dr Gomperts said her organisation was "here in solidarity with the Irish women who have been denied their human rights".

"This is just the first of many trips that we plan to make and we need financial support. And we would ask all the women around the world who care as much as we do about the dignity of women to support us."

The boat would return to Ireland when WOW got a licence to carry out abortions, she said.

The vessel is due in Cork next week.