Facebook has censored the page of an organisation that helps women obtain abortion pills, citing its policy against the “promotion or encouragement of drug use”.
Women on Web, which is based in Amsterdam, helps connect women with doctors who can provide abortion pills if they live in countries where abortion access is restricted. It is a sister organization to Women on Waves , which provides abortions and other reproductive health services on a ship in international waters.
Women on Waves announced that the page had been “unpublished” on its own Facebook account, writing : “Women on Web provides life-saving information to thousands of women worldwide. Its Facebook page publishes news, scientific information and the protocols of the World Health Organization and Women on Web has answered over half a million emails with women who needed scientific, accurate information essential for their health and life.
“We expect Facebook will [undo] this action soon enough, as access to information is a human right.”
This is the second censorship row between Facebook and Women on Web. In January 2012, Facebook deleted the profile photograph of the group’s founder and director, Dr Rebecca Gomperts. The image contained instructions for inducing an abortion using Misoprostol. Gomperts was locked out of her account for two days after re-posting the image, but Facebook subsequently apologized and reinstated both the image and her account.
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
{{/usCountry}}Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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