Abortion boat licence 'not so watertight'

The permit granted to a Dutch abortion ship is not as "watertight" as its founder Rebecca Gomperts may have wished, pro-life movement Gift of Life said yesterday.

The permit granted stipulates that the boat may only carry out abortions if a "cooperation agreement has been reached with a regional hospital in the country of whose shores the facility is operating," CEO and spokesman Paul Vincenti said.

As abortion is illegal in Malta, it would make Women on Waves' mission to Malta and, indeed, other pro-life countries all the harder to carry out.

"This boat is simply part of the global pro-abortion machine. Its intentions are to challenge the sovereign laws of those countries where abortion is illegal and to agitate the citizens of those countries that they visit."

The Home Affairs Ministry made it clear it would react in strict accordance with the laws of Malta if the ship intended to sail here.