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23 June 2015updated 26 Sep 2015 6:46am

Meet the woman sending abortion drugs to Poland by drone

“We wanted to draw attention to the different realities of women’s rights within Europe – how different life can be for women just a few hundred metres apart.”

By Barbara Speed

At around midday on Saturday, a drone will touch down in Słubice, a small town on Poland’s western border. Its cargo? Several doses each of the drugs Mifepristone and Misoprostol, which, taken together, constitute an abortion. 

“This is not an air drop,” Rebecca Gomperts tells me over the phone, days before the delivery is due to take place. “This is an individual delivery method – we’re not dropping bags full of abortion pills into Poland.” At the moment, Gomperts and her team at Women on Waves are planning to deliver “less than five” doses to individual women who need them during the drone’s single trip across the border. But there’s a good chance the drugs may never reach their destination: “We’ve already heard that there will be people trying to shut down the drone.” 

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