We are glad to disseminate the launch of Women on Waves’ initiative since it is very much in line with our aim of creating an international civil society rescue. In Italy Luca Coscioni Association goes on struggling so that pharmaceutical abortion is introduced and normally supplied by the Italian National Health System, like in the majority of European countries. But in the meantime we give information to women willing to interrupt their pregnancies through a pharmaceutical abortion without turning to the suction. During fall 2008 we also launched a hotline for the emergency contraception in Italy. Should a public structure have refused to prescribe the morning-after pill, in some Italian cities one could immediately receive medical assistance by calling our volunteers to get both the receipt and all the assistance required to denounce the physicians and the structures which denied one’s right. Our volunteers were physicians which had declared their willingness (by writing an e-mail) to help us mainly during the weekends and mostly by night, in case the sole turn doctor objected. Press release: Today, on the International Day of Action for Women´s Health, is the public launch of an hotline that gives women information on how to safely abort using a medication known as misoprostol. Where: Plaza de la Constitución, Santiago, Chile. When: 13:30 hrs., Thursday, 28 May, 2009. The launch is being carried out by the Red Salud Mujeres Chile, or Women´s Health Network of Chile, a network of feminist organizations from all over the country. Similar actions will be held in the cities of Temuco and Concepción. The hotline is supported by Women on Waves (Netherlands) and the Coordinadora Juvenil por la Equidad de Género (Ecuador). Press inquiries: +56 08-9668855. Women needing help in Chile: 08-8918590. To follow to activities surrounding the launch, please visit the Women on Waves website: http://www.womenonwaves.org/set-1936-en.html Further information: Chile has one of the highest rates of abortion in Latin America ? between 120.000 and 160.000 women have abortions every year, meaning that about 1 in 3 pregnancies end in abortion (The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1994: ¨Clandestina Abortion: a Latin American Reality.¨ Nueva York, Estados Unidos). Abortion is penalized in all possible circumstances, causing women having abortions to risk their health, lives, and freedom, because they can be denounced, mistreated, and imprisoned. The Women´s Health Network of Chile seeks to facilitate access to information for women, to allow them to truly exercise their human rights. We state that 1- Women have the right to freely and autonomously decide about their own lives and bodies 2- The access to information is a human right 3- Unsafe abortion is a public health problem and an issue of social justice. For more information about abortion please see: Women on Waves: http://www.womenonwaves.org Coordinadora Juvenil por la Equidad de Género: http://www.coordinadorajuvenil.org Caclai (Consorcio Latinoamericano contra el aborto inseguro): http://www.caclai.com Alan Guttmacher Institute: http://www.guttmacher.org Organización Mundial de la Salud: http://www.who.int Fondo de Naciones Unidas para la Población-UNFPA: http://www.unfpa.org/public Gynuity: http://www.gynuity.org International Medical Abortion Consortium: http://www.medicalabortionconsortium.org Women who need to access medical abortions please go to http://www.womenonweb.org