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Portugal's Pro-Life Coalition Collects 190,000 Signatures Against Abortion Liberalization

Leader says "We want to create a country where a child is always welcomed"

LISBON, March3, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A coalition of pro-life groups known as "More Life, More Family" has collected 190,000 signatures in their bid to prevent a change to Portuguese abortion legislation. The parliament is set to debate the issue on March 10th -- the fifth time since Portugal's return to democracy in 1974. The debate is a result of a pro-abortion groups' petition handed in last month, itself in turn sparked by the recent court case over the eight women suspected of procuring illegal abortions in Aveiro. The women, and the doctor in the case, were acquitted.

"More Life, More Family" coalesced in January in response to a growing number of pro-abortion activists seeking a change to the current legislation.

The petition not only asks for the government to maintain its current restrictions on abortion, it also calls for renewed support for pregnant women under financial strain, and granting families with children more financial incentives. "The solution for a woman in difficulty should never be the death of her unborn child," Teresa Aires de Campos said at a news conference. She is one of the leaders of the pro-life coalition. "We want to create a society where a newborn child is never seen as a burden that needs to be eliminated. We want to create a country where a child is always welcomed."

Pro-abortion campaigners say the narrow defeat in the 1998 referendum, coupled with the claim that more people are now in favour of relaxing the abortion law, necessitates another referendum. Aires de Campos countered that "The success of our petition shows it is a fallacy to think public opinion has changed and a new referendum is needed." She also cites the fact that in 1998 the commonly held belief was that a majority wanted the abortion law to be changed; the referendum result was proof that this was untrue.

As described in The Interim newspaper's November 1998 issue, the Socialist government in Portugal in 1997 introduced a bill to permit unrestricted abortion. It was defeated very narrowly by a vote of 112-111. A later bill, which expanded the period for abortions for rape (from 12 to 14 weeks) and for fetal handicaps (from 16 to 24 weeks) passed easily. However, the prime minister, who was strongly pro-life, the pro-life movement (aided by international right-to-life groups) and the Catholic Church, refused to play dead on the issue. They were able to force a referendum to either uphold the bill or defeat it. The referendum was to be the final decision. The voter turnout was low but the pro-life position was the victor. The government accepted the fact that its bill was defeated.

Portugal's current abortion law, maintained by the 1998 referendum, dates to 1984. It incorporated exemptions for women whose pregnancy was the result of rape, or if it was believed that the pregnancy could endanger the woman's life. The law forbids all abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy. There were 300 legal abortions in Portugal in 1997.

Read the Interim article in its entirety at:
http://www.theinterim.com/nov98/6asking.html

Read related coverage at:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040301/...

Read related LifeSiteNews.com of the 1998 referendum result at:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1998/june/98062903.html

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