UPDATE: 2:37 pm, Monday,
January 2nd, 2012: Facebook has issued a formal apology for removing the
image from Dr. Gomperts' page.
The apology can be viewed by
Dr. Gomperts' friends on her facebook page.
According to a press release
sent out by the organization Women on Waves, Facebook has deleted an image from the page
of Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, a well-known abortion rights activist and the Director
of Women on Waves – a charitable organization focused on women’s health and
human rights.
The image consisted of text
instructions of how to safely induce an abortion using medication.
Women on Waves' mission is
to protect maternal health by preventing unsafe abortions. Women on Waves sails
a ship to waters outside of countries where abortion is illegal.
On board the ship the medical
staff provides sexual education and healthcare services. Early medical abortion
(up to 6 1/2 weeks of pregnancy) can be provided safely, professionally and
legally.
Applicability of national penal
legislation, and also abortion law, extends only to territorial waters. Outside
that 12-mile radius it is Dutch law that applies on board a ship sailing under
the Dutch flag, which means that all Women on Waves activities are legal.
Women on Waves efforts draw
much needed public attention to the consequences of unwanted pregnancy and
unsafe, illegal abortion.
To date the ship has sailed to
Ireland, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
Women on Waves also supported
the launch of safe abortion hotlines in South Africa, Asia and the Middle
East.
In 2005 it founded Women on Web, a
telemedicine abortion service that provides medical abortions to women in
countries where there is no access to safe abortion.
According to Women on Waves, by
removing the picture Facebook is in gross violation of Article 19 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Facebook has a social responsibility to
guarantee human rights.
Dr. Gomperts reposted the
screenshot of the Facebook censorship message with the picture. Other Facebook
users have also been reporting that images that contain information about using
or getting Misoprostol are being removed by Facebook.
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