A Dutch doctor and the internet are making sure Americans have access to abortion pills

[Jilly_in_VA]

A little-known European medical team is poised to become one of the most important groups in the shifting landscape of U.S. abortion bans.

Aid Access, an online-only service run by a Dutch physician, Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, began shipping abortion pills to Americans from abroad four years ago. The organization’s team consists of about four doctors supervising about 10 medical staff members, and they’re difficult for U.S. authorities to reach because all are outside the country and they ship pills from a pharmacy in India.

Opponents of abortion rights have so far largely found themselves powerless to stop Aid Access from mailing abortion pills even to the most conservative corners of the country, at least while the organization’s opponents don’t control the White House. That has transformed Aid Access nearly overnight from an obscure overseas group into an essential part of the effort to keep abortion accessible nationwide.

“It’s the only clinically supported service that mails to states where telehealth for abortion is banned,” said Ushma Upadhyay, an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco.

Gomperts, who founded Aid Access in 2018, said she has no intention of changing her work now that the Supreme Court has overruled Roe v. Wade. Aid Access has been receiving 4,000 requests a day since Roe v. Wade was overturned, she said, up from 600 to 700 a day previously.

Last year, after Texas banned abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, orders from the state tripled in the weeks after the law took effect, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/dutch-doctor-internet-are-making-sure-americans-access-abortion-pills-rcna35630

HEROES!

[FM123]

1. Dr. Rebecca Gomperts is amazing!

Rachel Maddow had her on the show not too long ago, and I only wish she got a little more airtime. One of the great things she does is through her organization Women on Waves:

When WoW visits a country, women make appointments, and are taken on board the ship. The ship then sails out approximately 20 km (12 miles), to international waters, where Dutch laws are in effect on board ships registered in the Netherlands. Once in international waters, the ship's medical personnel provide a range of reproductive health services that includes medical abortion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_on_Waves

[Liberal In Texas]

2. That's wonderful. I wonder how many abortion ships there will be started up in the US.

Seems there would be enough demand to make them viable.

[FM123]

7. I agree.

Years ago (when gambling was still illegal here in FL) there were special ships that would open up their casinos once they got out into international waters so passengers in Florida could gamble.

This is what they should do about abortion in FL and other states along the coast. As long as their ships are registered in foreign countries, and they are safely out in international waters - I think they can do this.

[Liberal In Texas]

9. Like the old TV show "Mr. Lucky"

"Mr. Lucky is a CBS adventure/drama television series that aired from 1959 to 1960. The title character, played by John Vivyan, was an honest professional gambler who used his plush floating casino, the ship Fortuna II, as his base of operations. His good friend Andamo helped him run the casino. Ross Martin portrayed Andamo. Pippa Scott had a recurring role as Maggie Shank-Rutherford, Lucky's girlfriend. Tom Brown also had a recurring role, as Lieutenant Rovacs of the city police.

Lucky wins enough money in a crap game to buy (the) yacht and a truck full of gambling equipment. He renames the yacht Fortuna II (pronounced "Fortuna the Second&quot and anchors her outside the three-mile limit to operate as a floating casino."

Loved this show and Henry Mancini's theme music. Alas, it lasted only one season.

[FM123]

10. Yes, like Mr. Lucky!

[highplainsdem]

3. Brava!!!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

4. Subvert the Subversive Court!

[Demovictory9]

5. Kick

[Stinky The Clown]

6. Is not the technology there for a state to block access to a given website?

I put nothing past the GOP ghouls.

[LeftInTX]

11. A state can't do it, a country can, but not a state

[Stinky The Clown]

13. Until they do and the SC upholds them

The question was about technology, not law. The law doesn't matter when you have the courts on your side.

[LeftInTX]

14. Does a state even have the technology?

[melm00se]

8. One thing that folks need to keep in mind

is something called the Comstock Law of 1873.

This really old (but still on the books) states:

"That no...thing designed or intended for the prevention of conception or procuring of abortion...shall be carried in the mail, and any person who shall knowingly deposit, or cause to be deposited, for mailing or delivery, any of the hereinbefore-mentioned articles or things, or any notice, or paper containing any advertisement relating to the aforesaid articles or things, and any person who, in pursuance of any plan or scheme for disposing of any of the hereinbefore-mentioned articles or things, shall take, or cause to be taken, from the mail any such letter or package, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall, for every offense, be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned at hard labor not less than one year or more than ten years, or both, in the discretion of the judge."

(emphasis added)

While arresting and tossing these folks in the Netherlands in jail is highly unlikely, the use of the "mail" could allow law enforcement to intercept such a shipment and I am sure that some local yokel police/district attorney will try to apply the law to the recipient. While it does not say "US Mail", it could be interpreted to include Fedex, UPS, DHL or some other similar service.

The "cause to be deposited" clause could be interpreted as applying to the person requesting such a shipment as their action(s) "cause(d) it to be deposited.

While it is true that portions of the Comstock Act has been struck down (like the obscenity aspect), there are tons of these old, archaic laws like this one on the books that could come and bite folks on the ass and there are people just waiting with bated breath to strike using these laws.

[LeftInTX]

12. The feds can crack down on meds sent from other countries

It happens alot

People order from India and the order is seized.

It's illegal to obtain prescription meds from a foreign country without a prescription. A foreign doctor does not count because they are not licensed to practice medicine in the US.

Those purchasing the meds are not prosecuted, however the meds are seized and it's the end of the shipment.