One of the organization’s most successful provocations happened during Gomperts’s visit to Portugal in 2004. The group tried to visit the country’s coast but was rebuffed by the government, which sent two warships to create a blockade. In the ensuing media firestorm, Gomperts was invited on Portuguese television to defend Women on Waves. Instead, she used the airtime to explain how to end a pregnancy using miso pills. Though abortions were illegal in Portugal, miso was available in local pharmacies, she boldly pointed out to the country’s hundreds of thousands of television viewers.
