Dutch ‘Abortion Ship’ Barred from Morocco Port

The World

A yacht that had docked in the port of Smir, in northern Morocco, was escorted out of the harbor by authorities.

The yacht’s private owners had rented it out to a Dutch abortions rights organization called “Women on Waves.”

Abortion is illegal in Morocco.

So the group intended to use the yacht to run an abortion information campaign, raising a banner with a hotline number women could call.

It’s run similar “stealth” operations in European countries from Poland to Portugal.

A local women’s rights group had invited “Women on Waves” to do the same in Morocco.

Rebecca Gomperts, the director of “Women on Waves,” says 300,000 women seek an abortion in Morocco every year.

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