Poland, July 7, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Abortion rights activists from the group Women on Waves left Poland Friday to sail home to the Netherlands on their supposed abortion boat, The Langenort, after two weeks of international media fanfare and a visit to the Polish Parliament at the invite of the Parliamentary Women’s Group. The boat’s visit was highlighted by glowing international coverage that trumpeted lofty goals of the abortion rights activists while engaging in almost complete blackout of the pro-life organizations that represent the overwhelming majority of the Polish people. Lech Kowalewski, of the Polish Federation of Pro-life Movements, exhibited frustration at the media’s biased coverage explaining that Women on Waves “main goal was not to give access to abortion. It’s goal was to get access to the media.” The glowing endorsements from the international media, in particular the BBC, will do much to bring the group the fundraising and support it needs to further its attack on Poland’s tough abortion laws. It was, in fact, extremely unlikely that the boat was able to provide the free abortions for which they were praised by the media. This was because the boat could not provide the medical follow-ups required after the first use of RU-486. Lech rebuked Women on Waves saying, “They want to trigger a propaganda campaign. They want to poison the minds of the people.” The Polish people responded to the ship’s departure with over seven hundred people from the small oceanside town participating in a prayerful candlelight procession to the port where the ship had docked. The people recognized that prayer was going to be needed because, as Lech explained, “This is just the beginning of the struggle.” See Previous Lifesite Coverage” Abortion Boat Continues on Its Destructive Mission Against Pro-life Poland https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/jun/03062603.html See HLI Europa news: https://www.hli.org.pl/default_en.shtml
See BBC Coverage https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3051436.stm See Yahoo News Coverage: https://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030704/ap_on_re_eu/poland_abortion_boat_2