While America is busily building cruise liners and floating casinos, the Dutch have another way to exploit the legal flexibility of the high seas.

The Dutch ministry of health will allow a Dutch so-called abortion ship to operate in international waters, overturning a 2004 ban, spokeswoman Lilian Jansen said Saturday.

The ship, run by pro-choice organisation Women on Waves, aims to provide abortion services to women in countries where the practice is banned.

Women on Waves is not allowed to carry out surgical abortions but can give abortion pills to women who are up to seven weeks pregnant.

The ship can only distribute the abortion pills in international waters as Dutch law applies to the vessel. When it is in territorial waters of a targeted country local laws apply.

I know I’m probably inviting a flame war, but it never ceases to amaze me the lengths to which some people will go to extract themselves from the consequences of their poor decisions. I know, I know, there’s always the rape, incest and life of the mother argument, but these cases represent such a tiny portion of abortions I don’t for a minute believe the special cases alone can support the operation of such a costly “clinic.”

Trackposted to Mark My Words, third world county, The Random Yak, basil’s blog, DragonLady’s World, Blue Star Chronicles, The Amboy Times, Dumb Ox Daily News, Conservative Cat, High Desert Wanderer, Pursuing Holiness, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 24th, 2007 and is filed under Culture, Netherlands. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.