Refusing to be shamed, women have long come forward to announce that they have had an abortion. Now medical technology has made it possible to actually have at least part of an abortion in public.
Abortion pills comprise two medications. The first one to take, Mifipristone, blocks the hormones needed to maintain a pregnancy. The second, Misoprostol, taken a day or so later, opens the cervix and causes the uterus to contract.
A medical abortion done in the first trimester is proven to be 98% effective and is considered safer than childbirth or using over the counter Ibuprofen or high dose aspirin. Both medicines, Mifepristone and Misoprostol, can be found on the Core Model List of Essential Medicines put out by WHO.
Everything you wanted to know about abortion medication can be found on the WomenonWeb website. The counterpart in the U.S. is AidAccess, which is now supplying Texas women (link)
The first problem with medical abortion is that most people don’t know about it. Beginning in 1999 a Dutch physician named Rebecca Gomperts, addressed this problem head-on. Having been a physician aboard a Greenpeace vessel, she came up with the idea of a vessel bearing abortion medication.
Their first destination, Ireland, was half failure, half success. Failure, in that they jumped the gun and arrived in Ireland before their license was finalized, preventing them from actually dispensing the medication. Success, in that they had many more women asking for this medication than they had expected. Success, in the tremendous publicity they received.
They visited Poland next where they were greeted by very angry protesters. But the real drama in their venture came in Portugal, where the highly corrupt right-wing government sent out two warships to stop the boat from sailing into national waters. A relatively small boat carrying a few women bearing abortion pills was deemed to be a threat to Portugal’s national security.
The abortion boat did not contest the blockade, though In court the women won their case later, and were awarded a whopping 2000 Euros.
These activists moved on to working on the web and in person in South America and Africa. In Ecuador they hung a huge abortion banner from the 200 meter (656 ft. ) statue, Virgin of Quito. A documentary called Vessel tells the whole story.
In the U.S., what is needed now is a test case . A woman from any place in the world could go a public place in Texas, take Mifipristone, holding up a sign that explains that she is performing an abortion. (Press coverage would be essential.) She could stay in Texas or go somewhere else to take Misoprostol. \
Someone from Sweden would be ideal. She could explain how in Sweden all obstetrician/gynecologists are required to learn how to perform abortions. (If they are not interested they can always become podiatrists or brain surgeons.) No need gather groups of women who need abortions into clumps that the antiabortion crowd can target and harass.
As well as challenging the law, another essential goal would be to publicize medical abortion. Right now there are tens of thousands of impoverished women who cannot afford to travel out of Texas and who could benefit from this procedure. An even more severe law restricting abortion pills and criminalizing those who use them goes into effect in Texas in December.