Facebook Removes Home Abortion Instructions
Rebecca Gomperts, member of the Dutch women’s rights organization, Women on Waves, recently took to Facebook to make a statement. She changed her profile picture to an image with instructions of how to conduct an at-home abortion. Many people may have reported the image as offensive, because Facebook quickly censored Gomperts’ profile picture.
The picture promoted the use of the drug misoprostol, which is sometimes sold under the name Cytotec.
In response, Women on Waves issued a statement on December 30. The statement accuses Facebook of human rights violations and encourages pro-choice Facebook users to repost the image to their page. “By removing the profile picture, Facebook is in gross violation of Article 19, the right to freedom of information, of the Universal declaration of Human rights,” the statement said.
Facebook quickly issued a response statement, apologizing for removing the image and calling it a mistake.
“Our policies are enforced by a team of reviewers in several offices across the globe. This team looks at hundreds of thousands of reports every week, and as you might expect, occasionally, we make a mistake and remove a piece of content we shouldn’t have,” Facebook said.
Women on Waves is an organization that travels to countries where abortion is illegal or unavailable by ship. Abortions are performed on ship, along with sexual education seminars.
