Early career After graduating from medical school, Gomperts worked in a small hospital in
Guiana as a trainee doctor. As of 1997, she was a 31-year-old doctor based in Amsterdam who performed legal abortions. Gomperts used contacts she had made during art school to help her design and fund a mobile clinic. Dr. Gomperts said they already had in place the $50,000 mobile clinic that was being built to be placed aboard a ship; she and her colleagues needed to raise $190,000 to charter a Dutch ship. The grant for the mobile clinic came from the Mondriaan Foundation. Using the grant from the Mondriaan Foundation, Women on Waves rented a boat on which the mobile clinic would be held. Concerns expressed included the safety of patients traveling to and from the ship, follow-up care to avoid infection, and whether Women on Waves would even be allowed to anchor in some ports to offer training, contraceptives and information. Women on Waves made many voyages. News spread quickly that Gomperts was trying to reach countries where abortion was illegal, and many nations took measures to stop her. On one of Gomperts's trips to Portugal, her mobile clinic was not allowed to dock. Gomperts appeared on a Portuguese talk show instead. The work was reportedly finally not removed due to the inability to find a ladder high enough (sic).
Women on Web In 2005, Gomperts' founded
Women on Web. As of 2016, Women on Web was receiving more than 10,000 emails a month from more than 123 countries. who complete online forms, exclude contraindications, and report a gestation of 10 weeks or less. As of 2023, Aid Access has provided the prescriptions through American health care providers.
Research Rebecca Gomperts has co-authored numerous scientific papers, including: • Telemedicine for medical abortion: a systematic review, M Endler, A Lavelanet, A Cleeve, B Ganatra, R Gomperts, ...BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics &
Gynaecology 126 (9), 1094-1102 • Using telemedicine for termination of pregnancy with mifepristone and misoprostol in settings where there is no access to safe services, RJ Gomperts, K Jelinska, S Davies, K Gemzell‐Danielsson, G Kleiverda, BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology 115 (9), 1171-1178 • Self reported outcomes and adverse events after medical abortion through online telemedicine: population based study in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, ARA Aiken, I Digol, J Trussell, R Gomperts, bmj 357 • Requests for abortion in Latin America related to concern about Zika virus exposure, ARA Aiken, JG Scott, R Gomperts, J Trussell, M Worrell, CE Aiken, New England Journal of Medicine 375 (4), 396-398
Recognition and awards • 2001: Ms magazine Women of the year • 2002: Clara Meijer-Wichmann medal • 2002: Women making History award by Planned Parenthood of New York City • 2004: “
Margaret Sanger Woman of Valor Award” Planned Parenthood New York City • 2005: The 1000 PeaceWomen are activists from around the world who were collectively nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize • 2005: Rosie Jimenez Award from the Women's Medical Fund • 2007: Global Women’s Rights Awards,
Feminist Majority Foundation, Los Angeles, USA • 2011: First "Women Deliver 100" list marks 100th
International Women's Day, featuring women and men who have fought to improve girls' and women's lives worldwide • 2012: Allan Rosenfield Award for Lifetime Contributions to International Family Planning by the Society of Family Planning • 2013: BBC 100 Women: 100 Women: Rebecca Gomperts and the abortion ship • 2015: Foreign Policy list global thinkers • 2015: Els Borst Oeuvreprijs by the Association of Dutch Women Doctors (VNVA) • 2020: Time's 100 list of most influential people of the world • 2022:
MS magazine top feminists • 2022: Aletta Jacobs prize • 2022:
Glamour women of the year • 2022: Bloomberg 50: The people and ideas that defined global business in 2022 • 2022: The Financial Times 25 most influential women • 2023: Lovie Special Activist of the Year Award • 2024: Princeton School of Public and International Affairs Dean's Leadership lecture by Rebecca Gomperts: The State of Women's Healthcare • 2024: Financial Times readers 25 women of 2024 • 2025:
Washington Post Next 50 - 50 people shaping our society in 2025 • 2025: STAT's 2025 STATUS List features 50 influential people shaping the future of health and life sciences across biotech, medicine, health care, policy, and health tech. == Documentary ==