Amidst rows of capsules and other pharmaceuticals that line the shelves of his drug export business in Nagpur, Mohan Kale stores two box-files crammed with e-mails from grateful women. "God bless you. We're living in a country where women don't have basic rights. I got scared when I got pregnant," writes one from Pakistan. Another from Thailand reads, "Now that I'm no longer pregnant, I'm very happy. Thank you, Women on Web. I love you."Every month, Kale couriers around 2,000 kits containing one mifepristone and four misoprostol tablets to women in countries where abortions are restricted.These tablets, if consumed within the first nine weeks, help women terminate their pregnancies. Their sale is legal in India with a prescription. However, 26% of the world's population lives in 72 countries where abortion is prohibited altogether or allowed only to save the mother's life, says a World Health Organization report.The 44-year-old owner of Kale Impex may never have joined the ranks of abortion-rights activists if he hadn't met Rebecca Gomperts in 2012. A Dutch physician, Gomperts attracted international media attention in 2001 when she fitted a ship with a mobile abortion clinic and set sail for Dublin. Her plan was to bring women on board and give them the pills in international waters; thus, circumventing Ireland's strict anti-abortion laws.Women on Waves - as Gomperts dubbed her venture - conducted five voyages but could only facilitate 20 abortions. "In Portugal, the minister of defence claimed we were a threat to national security and sent warships to stop us," recalls Gomperts. Similar experiences in other countries made her rethink her strategy.In 2006, she started Women on Web (WoW), a telemedicine service which caters to women seeking abortions in countries where local laws forbid the procedure. After doing a pregnancy test and - if possible, an ultrasound - these women are asked to consult one of the organization's five doctors via an online questionnaire. It asks for an estimated time of conception, delves into the patient's medical history to rule out contraindications, and urges the patient to undergo counselling if she is ambivalent about her decision.Once a doctor approves the request, a prescription is sent to Kale in Nagpur, who couriers the kit directly to the patient. "As a man, I can't give birth to a baby but I do have autonomy over my body. Why shouldn't women?" asks Kale. Gomperts points out that Kale doesn't make a profit. "He sells these drugs at cost." Patients are asked to donate 90 euros to WoW, but those who can't are sent the tablets anyway.In 2008, 21.6 million women underwent unsafe abortions and 47,000 died from related complications. These grim WHO statistics are used to bolster the argument in favour of an online clinic despite the inherent disadvantages of unsupervised abortions, and online consultations. "More deaths are caused by medications like Viagra and overdoses of paracetamol," claims Gomperts.However, obstetrician and gynecologist Dr Anahita Pandole expressed grave concerns about WoW's modus operandi. "We don't give these tablets beyond seven weeks because a patient can have torrential bleeding. You have to do this under medical supervision," says Dr Pandole. "Nothing may happen to 99 patients but for the one that loses her life, that's enough to make one say, 'Absolutely not'." In 2008, The Guardian reported on a British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology study, which found that 11% of 400 WoW customers needed surgery - either because the drugs didn't complete the abortion or due to excessive bleeding.Both WoW and Kale are treading on the knife's edge of the law. While Kale has a license to export medicines, he has recently come under the scanner of Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration because 40% of his overall business is derived from mailing drugs directly to patients. He, in turn, has moved the court on the grounds that India allows such exports, and prescription verification is the responsibility of the importing country. The case is currently before the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court.In India, a pregnancy can be legally terminated up to 20 weeks by a registered medical practitioner. However, about 40 Indian women contact WoW every month because they aren't aware of the law. Gomperts advises them to visit a local clinic. But lack of information and societal taboos often leads to unwanted newborns being discarded in garbage dumps or outside orphanages.