Women on Web


Women on Web is a Canadian non-profit organization that advocates for and facilitates access to contraception and safe abortion services to protect women's health and lives. People who need access to safe abortion or contraception can make an online consultation at Women on Web website. Women on Web program is website available in 16 languages, including Arabic, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, and Turkish. The organization was founded by Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, a Dutch physician, in 2005.
Research shows that if safe abortions are not available, women will voluntarily risk their health and lives to have unsafe abortions from unqualified persons in unhygienic conditions. Women on Web's goal is to make safe abortion care accessible for all women and pregnant people, free from shame and stigma by providing access to safe telemedicine abortions.
Self-managed medical abortion is done with mifepristone and misoprostol at home before the 9th week of pregnancy. A 2008 study published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology found that women seem capable of self‐administering mifepristone and misoprostol at home without a doctor physically visiting them, provided proper information and instructions are given.

Research

Several scientific studies on the outcome of abortions and the experiences of women who have used the Women on Web service have proven that abortion via telemedicine is safe, highly effective and acceptable to women. This has been confirmed by the World Health Organization which has recognized that abortions done with the help of Women on Web are considered safe.
Women on Web has also researched data from women in countries where abortion is not legally restricted to highlight the barriers in access to safe abortion services. Research from countries such as the UK, the Netherlands, Hungary and the USA has shown that women face obstacles to access abortion services when these services are only available in clinics or hospitals.