The "abortion drone"

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Activists in Germany are using a drone to deliver abortifacient drugs to women in Poland where the drugs are unavailable.

The activists say that it's all perfectly legal. They say they're obeying the rules for drones in both Polish and German airspace, and that EU law allows medication that was prescribed to a person by a doctor in one EU country to be possessed by them in another.

So... what do you think?

The abortion drone is a high-tech victory for women’s rights - The Globe and Mail

 

[Revoltingest]

 

[columbus]

The abortion thing aside, what is going on here is private citizens breaching the sovereignty of neighboring countries. That seems like a dangerous thing to start doing.
Tom

 

[Nietzsche]

...

Germans sending aircraft over Poland. Uh-huh. To deliver medicine...uh-huh.

I wasn't aware they were fighting over the Corridor & Danzig again.

 

[Nietzsche]

The abortion thing aside, what is going on here is private citizens breaching the sovereignty of neighboring countries. That seems like a dangerous thing to start doing.
Tom

They were invited! Like in Czecho-Slovakia!

 

[sule007]

So... what do you think?

The abortion drone is a high-tech victory for women’s rights - The Globe and Mail

I think its Legal

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

The abortion thing aside, what is going on here is private citizens breaching the sovereignty of neighboring countries. That seems like a dangerous thing to start doing.
Tom

They aren't bypassing border controls; there are no border controls to bypass. You can walk from Germany to Poland and all you'd pass at the border is a "welcome to Poland" sign.

Schengen Area - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[columbus]

They aren't bypassing border controls; there are no border controls to bypass. You can walk from Germany to Poland and all you'd pass at the border is a "welcome to Poland" sign.

Schengen Area - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Then why go to the trouble of drones? Why not just walk across the border carrying a box marked "abortifacient"?

Regardless of how you feel about the laws, Poland and Germany have different ones.
The more I learn about drones the less I like them.
Tom

 

[Nietzsche]

Then why go to the trouble of drones? Why not just walk across the border carrying a box marked "abortifacient"?

Regardless of how you feel about the laws, Poland and Germany have different ones.
The more I learn about drones the less I like them.
Tom

Have you been to Poland? It's ****ing awful. A drone is far better because of that.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Then why go to the trouble of drones? Why not just walk across the border carrying a box marked "abortifacient"?

Most (all?) of the border between the two countries is large river. It can be more convenient to fly a drone straight over than to drive along the bank to a bridge and back down the other side.

Drones aren't magic, but they may have limited contexts where they're the best option. There's a reason why Amazon has looked into using drones for some deliveries.

Regardless of how you feel about the laws, Poland and Germany have different ones.

Are they violating the laws of either one?

The more I learn about drones the less I like them.
Tom

So you prefer the other way they send the drugs (i.e. by mail)?

 

[columbus]

So you prefer the other way they send the drugs (i.e. by mail)?

Clear something up for me.
Are the drugs unavailable for distribution problems, or are they illegal in Poland?
Tom

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Clear something up for me.
Are the drugs unavailable for distribution problems, or are they illegal in Poland?
Tom

All I know about this issue is from this article and a bit of googling, but from what I gather:

- it's illegal for pharmacies in Poland to sell these drugs.
- it's legal for Poles to possess prescription drugs in general - and therefore these drugs in particular - if they were brought in from another Schengen area country and a doctor prescribed them.


That being said, the Women on Waves web site is now saying that German police have confiscated a drone controller, but the organization is confident that they'll be found not to have broken the law:

First Abortion Drone flight a success, women in Poland receive medical abortions — Women on Waves

 

[columbus]

- it's illegal for pharmacies in Poland to sell these drugs.
- it's legal for Poles to possess prescription drugs in general - and therefore these drugs in particular - if they were brought in from another Schengen area country and a doctor prescribed them.

So, if I am gathering correctly, the senders could walk in to Poland and distribute the drugs freely, as long as they don't charge for them. The legal onus is on the recipients to have a prescription from some other EU country.
Is that correct?
Leaving out the political correctness of what they are doing, does this seem like a good idea?
Tom

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

So, if I am gathering correctly, the senders could walk in to Poland and distribute the drugs freely, as long as they don't charge for them. The legal onus is on the recipients to have a prescription from some other EU country.
Is that correct?
Leaving out the political correctness of what they are doing, does this seem like a good idea?
Tom

Look: I'm not a lawyer. All I know is that they've been sending the drugs by mail without issue, and now they're trying out drones as well. I don't see why using drones would make anything worse, and I can see one way why they would make things better: it's never a good idea for medication to sit in extreme heat or cold for hours on a mail truck.

 

[columbus]

All I know is that they've been sending the drugs by mail without issue, and now they're trying out drones as well.

Oh.
I would have thought sophisticated Europeans would understand the concept of UPS.
Tom

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Oh.
I would have thought sophisticated Europeans would understand the concept of UPS.
Tom

What makes you think they haven't?

 

[Aquitaine]

You know, when I first read the title I built up a mental picture of Drones flying around attacking pregnant women.

 

[columbus]

What makes you think they haven't?

The premise that they need drones to deliver abortifacients without spending hours in the weather.
I can stick anything legal in an insulated jetpack in Miami and expect it to be delivered to rural Washington state the next day.
Tom

 

[Marisa]

Activists in Germany are using a drone to deliver abortifacient drugs to women in Poland where the drugs are unavailable.

The activists say that it's all perfectly legal. They say they're obeying the rules for drones in both Polish and German airspace, and that EU law allows medication that was prescribed to a person by a doctor in one EU country to be possessed by them in another.

So... what do you think?

The abortion drone is a high-tech victory for women’s rights - The Globe and Mail

I'm fine with it. We should consider this option for Texas and other states attempting to deny rights by eliminating the ability to exercise them.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

The premise that they need drones to deliver abortifacients without spending hours in the weather.
I can stick anything legal in an insulated jetpack in Miami and expect it to be delivered to rural Washington state the next day.
Tom

Would you be this desperate to be nit-picky if we weren't talking about abortion?