DR. REBECCA GOMPERTS

Dr. Rebecca Gomperts: A trained abortion specialist and activist, she is generally considered the first abortion rights activist to cross international borders. As Founder and Director of Women on Waves, Women on Web, and more recently Aid Access, she has dedicated her life to providing reproductive health services for women in countries where it is not provided. Rebecca Gomperts studied medicine and visual arts in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After graduating Gomperts became an abortion doctor and sailed with the Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior, as its doctor and as an environmental activist. While sailing in South America she encountered many women who suffered greatly due to lack of access to reproductive heath services and safe, legal abortions. These women and their stories inspired Rebecca Gomperts to start Women on Waves. In response to a growing number of help emails from women around the world, Rebecca founded Women on Web, an online medical abortion service in 2005. The service supports women living in countries where safe abortion is not available, to obtain information and access abortion pills. Every year Women on Web helpdesk members answer more than 100,000 emails from women all over the world.