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American Morning

Ireland: Eye of the Abortion Storm

Aired June 15, 2001 - 10:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this hour with a ship pulling into harbor and directly into the eye of the storm. The Dutch vessel carries both a message and a mission, both dealing with abortion and both crashing ashore in Ireland. CNN's Sheila MacVicar explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sailing into controversy, dismissed by some as a public relations stunt, the Dutch fishing vessel, the Aurora, docked in Dublin. Strapped to the upper deck a cargo container. Inside, a fully equipped abortion clinic. Their plan, to take women wanting abortions out to sea into international waters where, organizers say, they will operate under Dutch law.

JOKE VAN KAMPEN, WOMEN ON WAVES SPOKESWOMAN: We give no information whether we're doing abortions or not. And that's really one of the main reasons for that is the privacy and the safety of our clients.

MACVICAR: But the Dutch government has not yet licensed the floating clinic. That means, say organizers, if there are any abortions they will be carried out using the drug RU-486. That is much more than what is normally available to Irish women this close to home.

(on camera): In fact, the Irish constitution does give women the right to an abortion but only when a woman's own life is in danger. In practice, say abortion advocates, there are no legal abortions performed in Ireland.

(voice-over): So Irish women take the ferry ride to England, where abortion is legal. Sixty-five hundred women made this trip last year; 28 women every day. Abortion advocates say Ireland simply exports its problem.

TONY O'BRIEN, IRISH FAMILY PLANNING ASSOCIATION: You have a whole raft of laws which is designed to facilitate women leaving the country. Now that cannot be described as anything other than hypocritical.

DORENE MCCARTHY, MARIE STOPES CLINIC, DUBLIN: We pretend in this country that we don't know anything about abortion. So that's the cloak-and-dagger way it is done. MACVICAR (voice-over): Less than 10 years ago it was illegal to give women any information about abortion.

UNIDENTIFIED IRISH WOMAN: Do you know how many weeks pregnant you are?

MACVICAR: Now a few clinics in Ireland operating behind bullet- proof glass provide counseling and addresses. A recent public opinion poll shows that a majority in Ireland now support at least some access to abortion. But on this subject the power of the Catholic Church is still very strong and the arrival of the ship has sparked renewed controversy. It has made Claire Howlett go public after more than 20 years of silence. She had an abortion after she was raped. She calls it the worst decision of her life. She wants the doctors on the ship stopped.

CLAIRE HOWLETT: What's they're doing is wrong, killing Irish babies. And we don't allow babies to be killed in our country.

MACVICAR: The women on the ship say they can't change women's lives or Irish laws with a two-week stay. But they have succeeded in putting abortion back on the public agenda here and that, they say, is what they intended to do all along.

Sheila MacVicar, CNN, Dublin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLEY: And back to the United States, where Planned Parenthood is sponsoring a controversial campaign of its own. The group is using newspaper ads, e-mails and Web sites to promote women's access to the so-called morning after pills. That's the emergency contraception that can be taken immediately after sex in order to prevent pregnancy.

According to the "Chicago Tribune," 47 Planned Parenthood affiliates are making the medicine available over the phone and at least two offices are offering access via the Internet. In both cases, the women are not required to see a doctor and some say that could raise legal challenges.

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