Women make Waves: Dutch International Abortion Activism

The demand for legal, affordable, safe abortion, based on the principle of a woman’s right to decide, has been a rallying point and priority for the Dutch women’s movement in the 1970s and early 1980s. After the adoption of a compromised abortion act that came into force in 1984, exemplary of what Sydney Tarrow has identified as 'struggling to reform', Dutch abortion activism waned as further reform of the act proved impossible. The article will focus on the rather different pathway and outcome of advocacy for inclusion of the right to access to abortion in Dutch development cooperation policy. It will highlight how Dutch and international abortion activists within the international women’s reproductive rights movement, and the counter-movement of strong oppositional actors, generated opportunities for Dutch advocacy on abortion in international fora at different points in time. The article discusses how the Dutch government position and discourse on abortion in development cooperation policy and at the UN shifted over time, in part in response to strong oppositional actors. It will highlight instances of bold and ingenious abortion activism and advocacy that can be considered examples of ‘venue shopping’, 'forum shifting', ‘activist entrepreneurship’ and actual creation of political gendered opportunities. These include a number of Dutch international abortion initiatives: the launch of the ‘abortion ship’ Women on Waves in 1999; the launch of the online medical abortion facility Women on Web in 2004/2005; She Decides, in response to the reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule by President Donald Trump in 2017; and the initiative for online medical abortion service in the US in 2018. The article contributes to an understanding of the role of feminist advocates in creating gendered opportunities, including the anticipation of threats and closure of opportunities, and in practicing discursive venue shopping and geographic forum shifting to advance access to safe and affordable abortion. Women on Waves' and Women on Web's activism highlights how the actual provision of abortion services, rather than direct advocacy for legal and policy reform, enabled a change of public opinion and media coverage in favour of policy change for legalisation of abortion.