The company, which supplies the pills to women all over the world, normally sends them through the mail, and this will be their first attempt at a delivery by drone. If it is successful, they may do the same thing in Ireland, where abortion penalties are even harsher.
Since 1993, Poland has only allowed women to terminate their pregnancies in the case of a serious threat to the woman’s health, rape, incest, or if the fetus is “seriously damaged.” It is estimated that thousands of women are forced to fly to other parts of Europe to attain safe abortions, while at least 50,000 underground abortions take place each year.
“Some women try all kinds of awful stuff – some try to commit suicide. Other women put knitting needles in their vagina, or do lots of dangerous things to stop it. If a woman doesn’t want a pregnancy she will do whatever she can to end it. The consequences are dangerous,” Rebecca Gomperts, founder and director of the organization, told the Telegraph.
The Netherlands-based organization is hoping to raise awareness of the issues concerning abortion laws throughout Europe.
In Ireland, the penalty for ordering the pills online is 14 years in prison.
“We can’t stop pointing out the lack of safe access to abortion and medical abortion pills. It’s a violation of women’s rights. We have to make every effort to make sure they get that access,” Grumperts explained.
The drone is set to deploy from Frankfurt, Germany, and land in Slubice, Poland on Saturday.
The pills themselves are not illegal in Poland — taking them to induce a miscarriage is — so the group does not believe that they will be breaking the law by sending them.
The pills, which contain mifepristone and misoprostol, are on the World Health Organisation's Essential Medicines list, and can be taken up to nine weeks of pregnancy, the Telegraph reports.
