Politics
Wednesday March 23, 2005
Abortion Referendum Planned for Portugal by New Socialist Government
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LISBON, March 23, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Portugal's ruling Socialist Party has proposed another national referendum seeking to legalize abortion in the predominantly Catholic nation. A similar measure failed when introduced in 1998.
In last month's election, the Socialist party ran on a platform that included a promise to conduct a national referendum to overturn the country's official prohibition on abortion. The proposal seeks to make abortion on demand legal up to the 10th week of pregnancy.
Prime Minister Jose Socrates promised the referendum for 2006 as part of his election campaign. The proposed text for the referendum asks for a yes or no to the following question: "Do you approve that an abortion, carried out during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, with the woman's consent and in an authorized medical facility, no longer be a crime?".
Portugal's current abortion law limits the procedure to cases where a pregnancy is thought to endanger a woman's health, or in cases of pregnancy caused by rape. The law forbids all abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy. There were about 500 abortions in the country in 2001.
In the June 1998 referendum, Portuguese voters narrowly rejected a bid to introduce abortion on demand. Only 31% of registered voters took part in the referendum; but of those, 51% voted against a change in the law.
In March 2001, the Portuguese Parliament approved the free distribution of the abortifacient morning after pill in pharmacies, hospitals and health centers. In January 2002, the issue was again raised as a Portuguese nurse who was operating an illegal abortion ring out of her home was sentenced to 8 ½ years in prison.
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Abortion-Pushing Socialists Elected in Portugal
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/feb/05022105.html
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