Abortion-rights yacht sails in Morocco

SMIR, Morocco -- Police escorted out of Moroccan waters Thursday a small yacht carrying women's rights activists who claimed they could perform abortions on board, after anti-abortion protesters jeered them on land.

Women on Waves, a Dutch group, sailed around the northern Moroccan harbor at Smir with banners advertising an information hotline about abortion, which is illegal in most cases in this North African country.

A day earlier, the group had said that a ship that can provide "safe, legal, medical abortions" up until 6.5 weeks of pregnancy was on its way from the Netherlands. Medical professionals have traveled before to European nations to raise awareness; the group's founder said that abortions had been performed aboard ship in international waters off Poland.

It was the group's first event in a Muslim country.

Abortion in Morocco is illegal, except in rare cases when the mother's life is threatened, and it is illegal to give out information about it. Police sealed the port for what they called "military maneuvers," denying journalists access. -- AP